Disclaimer: Not mine. But if you don't already know that I worry a little bit.
An object at rest remains at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.
"Sweetie, it's just for one night," Angela said, bobbing eagerly on the balls of her feet.
Temperance Brennan frowned. "I could probably identify up to twenty bodies in Limbo for all of the 'just one night's' you've made me have."
The pretty brunette gave her best friend an exasperated look and an exaggerated sigh. "Well, those twenty bodies will need to wait one more night. This is worthwhile, I promise."
The Jeffersonian Medico-Legal lab was still bustling with activity, as it was early evening, yet the artist was urging her friend to leave early—a feat rarely accomplished. It had taken her many a soppy, begging expression to even convince the doctor of this much.
"If you could just tell me who this date is with," Temperance protested half-heartedly, as Angela gently shoved her out of the way and began shutting down her computer.
"That would defeat the purpose of a blind date."
"But— Ange, I need those files!" the forensic anthropologist cried in horror as the artist shut down page after page on the desktop.
"Don't worry," she said, rolling her eyes. "I saved everything. Now go change!"
Angela shoved a package into her friend's hands and ushered her from the room. The only thing Temperance could do in protest was sigh loudly and stomp loudly from the room, giving her the feeling that she was a five-year-old having a temper tantrum. However, once she had slipped into the dress set out for her, she began to change her attitude ever-so-slightly.
"Thanks for the dress," she said reluctantly from the passenger's seat of Angela's car.
Angela smirked. "I told you you'd like it."
They drove in silence for several minutes. Temperance stared out the windshield, apparently deep in thought. Angela merely smiled. She was thinking about the date she had set up for her best friend. It could either turn out extremely well or extremely badly, she had decided. There was most likely no room for middle ground in this case.
As they pulled into the parking lot of a nice looking restaurant, Angela turned to her friend. "Sweetie, promise me something."
Temperance glanced sideways. "You know I don't make promises without knowing what I'm agreeing to."
Angela smiled. "Just try to make this guy want a second date, okay? Don't make assumptions."
"I don't like to make assumptions. I let evidence speak for itself."
Angela gave her a look. "Just promise me, Sweetie."
Temperance rolled her eyes. "Fine. I promise to give whomever this blind date is a chance."
"Good."
With that, Angela walked swiftly toward the bustling restaurant, Temperance at her side and biting her lip nervously. The room was brightly lit when they entered. Angela was smiling broadly, winking at a couple of the men staring her way.
"Two for Angela Montenegro," Angela told the waitress, who nodded. The artist smiled at her friend, giving her a gentle squeeze on the arm. "Good luck!"
"Ange, wait—" Temperance protested, but the enthusiastic woman in question had already vanished into the crowd.
The waitress smiled encouragingly. "Your date is already here, ma'am."
With a sigh, Temperance followed—then stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who sat at the table she was led to.
"Booth?"
The agent looked up. "Bones?"
Temperance sat down carefully, not breaking eye contact with her partner before they both muttered, "Angela."
"I guess we should have guessed she'd pull something like this," Booth said, smiling wryly.
Temperance frowned. "She should know better than to do this."
Booth's smile slid off his face. "Is it because of me?"
"Of course it's because of you! She knows that we don't condone romantic relationships with co-workers."
In usual form, Temperance didn't see the way her partner-now-date's shoulders slumped at yet another rejection. She stood abruptly. "I should call her. I need to make sure she knows that this is unacceptable."
"Bones!" Booth cried in exasperation. "Bones, she's paying for our dinner. We should at least have the courtesy of enjoying ourselves for her sake."
"You knew about this," Temperance accused. "How could you agree to something so absurd?"
"I didn't know! She told me that she found someone who was interested and that she felt bad about me losing my weekend with Parker for a case."
For a moment, this was news to her. However, she quickly recovered. "And you believed her?"
"Yes," Booth exclaimed, wondering why on earth she was so angry about this. "I believed her because, unlike you, she cares about people—who are still alive, anyways."
The room fell silent, watching this exchange. It wasn't until he felt the heavy, invasive stares upon them that he realized that they had been shouting. The instinctive apology that always came after an argument with her died on his lips as he saw the look on her face. Suddenly, he knew that he needed something more.
Before he could muster the words, she turned on her heel and stormed from the room.
"Bones—Temperance, wait!" he shouted, following close behind her. She shook off his grip on her arm and continued on until they were at the edge of the parking lot. It was only then that she turned around and cursed loudly.
"Angela drove me here. Damn it!" She whipped out her cell phone. "I'm calling a cab."
As she fumbled with the numbers, Booth put a hand over hers, blocking the screen and bringing her attention to him.
"Temperance," he began, his head bent toward her and his voice low, "I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean that."
She avoided his gaze. "I know you didn't, Booth, but now you must understand why we can't be in a relationship."
"Actually, I don't."
When she finally met his gaze, he was stunned by the hurt that was shown in those big, blue orbs. "You know me better than anyone. You know exactly how to hurt me the most."
"I don't mean to hurt you, Temperance. Yeah, we drive each other nucking futs—"
"I don't know what that means."
Booth smiled inwardly. He had purposefully used an unusual euphemism to draw them back to familiar ground. "I know you don't, Bones. And that's part of the reason I love you. I just—what I mean is I care about you. A lot. I would never hurt you on purpose."
"But you still hurt me, even if you don't mean to." She took a shaky breath. "I've distanced myself from others for so long. Then you came along. Logically, it should have been easy to keep you out. You're an agent, not another scientist. We speak different languages, figuratively, of course, because we both speak English to each other. However, you somehow find a way to make me feel different, not only biologically but something different. I've never felt this way. You don't stay at a safe distance, and it scares me."
It was only then that Seeley realized that he was nearly nose-to-nose with her throughout her small speech. He reluctantly took a step back when she gave him a pointed look.
"Bones—"
He couldn't find the words to respond. He wanted so badly to allay her fears, to tell her that she didn't have anything to fear, but he knew that it wasn't true. He knew that he wanted her just as badly as he did before, and that if they were going to go anywhere, they both risked the chance of being hurt. He was willing to risk it. He now had to convince her to take the same risk.
He did what seemed right. To hell with it all, he kissed her.
Her breath hitched under his lips, and for one wild moment, he was afraid that she'd kick his ass. But then something sparked in her, and she was kissing him back.
This was different from the last kiss they'd shared. Temperance was letting him lead this time, and neither was holding back. His tongue was hungrily discovering every crevice of her mouth. She pressed against him, her inhibitions shattered and her thirst for more increasing exponentially with every passing moment.
It was only when he realized that they had a growing audience that he reluctantly pulled away from her. For several seconds, they just stared at each other, blue eyes meeting chocolate and communication no longer seemed necessary. Without ever verbally agreeing, they headed back into the building. He casually wrapped an arm around her waist, and she instinctively leaned into his touch.
They pretended not to notice the stares from the other customers, who were perhaps shocked to see the once passionately fighting couple now completely content in each other's presence. They wouldn't understand anyways, the two silently agreed.
When they finally settled back into their seats at the table, Temperance cleared her throat and said in a low voice that held some level of humor, "I guess I did promise Angela that I'd give my blind date a chance."
Seeley smiled. "I'm glad you did, Bones. I'm glad you did."
A/N: What do you think? I'm going to make this a three part story for all 3 of Newton's laws. I thought of this during Physics class because I have an exceptionally boring teacher. It's my first Bones fic, so hopefully I can keep in character. Please let me know if you see something that is blindingly OoC.
Point of Discussion: What was the outside force in this case? I thought I made it clear in my head, but when I read it again I realized that a couple of things could be it.
Please take a second and press that big button right there and tell me what you think. Thanks!
P.S. Hope everyone had a happy holiday (whatever it is you celebrate) and have a good new year!
And yes, I used nucking futs. I've always wanted to use that in a story :]
