A/N: A one-shot based on the phrase 'Judge, Jury and Executioner'. For those of you who don't know what that means, it just basically means 'Deciding the right course of justice, based on their own decisions'. It's Booth playing all these roles in his relationship with Brennan. If you don't get what I mean, just read and you may catch on. If you want, a review would make me a happy lady! Enjoy!
I don't consider myself to be an expert on women or love. I've made quite a few mistakes in my lifetime. Heck, a lot of mistakes. I got good things out of some of them though, like Parker. He's my pride and joy. I could not live without my boy and I am a better person for him being around. This is my statement of the truth and will attest to this anytime you want.
But you Bones. You're something else entirely. I cannot begin to work you out. You are not good with people, but you're improving. You're not a big fan of kids, yet you seem to have a strong protective instinct over them. You, by nature, are a walking contradiction. I'm gonna have to work you out Bones, before I go insane. So here I am, judge, jury and executioner.
Being in court a few times has taught me how to play this game. Spending time with you has taught me how to play a different sort of game. Court taught me that there are parts that don't add up and need to be questioned or reasoned out. You have taught me that there's certain ways to go about dealing with you. Asking questions isn't always the easiest task with you. If it's to do with science, so much the better. Feelings…well they're a bit more difficult to handle. Here I go…
"Hey Bones," I smile over at you, trying to keep my eyes on the road and you at the same time. Not an easy task, since it's so easy to get caught up in a moment with you.
"What?" You ask sharply. I give you a slight glance, showing that such harsh treatment of me was unnecessary.
"I was gonna ask how things with your dad were going but I don't think I'll bother now. Might lose my head if I do." That's it. Clever, Booth. Make her feel bad for being nasty to you. Then she'll be more gentle with you. I have no doubt about it Bones, you are as soft as a marshmallow inside. When you repent, you really repent….
"I'm sorry Booth. I didn't mean to be so hard." That's it Bones, keep the guilt rolling, it'll make life easier for me. "It's just, my father…"
"What's up? You two not speaking again?" That was a total shot in the dark. You're going to clue me in anyway, so it doesn't matter if my guess was wide of the mark.
"No, it's not that. It's just…" I'll sit in here in quiet patience while you think out your answer. It can be difficult to put your feelings into words sometimes. Why do you think I've never said how I feel about you?
You continue on in your soft voice. "Things are so different now. Like things have changed between me and him."
I raise an eyebrow quizzically. "Changed how? Since he's been put in prison you mean?"
"No. Like when I was fifteen. Me and Max used to be really close. Now having him be a constant in my life again, our relationship is different." Ever evolving Bones…much like our relationship. Only I have no idea where this one may begin or end.
"Well naturally. You don't need to rely so heavily on him now. You begin to break away from your parents when you are a teenager. He left you too, so you know, you do still have that distrust of him. He hurt you bad Bones. You learned how to live without him and now you're gonna have to re-adjust. It's gonna take time and it'll probably never be the same as before anyway." There, that would have done Gordon Gordon proud.
"That's true. I just want my father back." Oh Bones, I know. If I had a magic wand, I would wave it and fix everything for you.
"I know. Give yourself and him time. Things will repair themselves. You might even get a better father than before." Somehow I think Max is willing to try anything to save his relationship with you Bones. Just like I was when you wouldn't speak to me all that time. You're too special to lose…
"Thanks Booth. I don't see how it's going to work out but thanks." Certainly Bones. You have a conflict going on again. You want to be close to your father and have said as much. But then you push it away and say it isn't possible.
"Not a problem Bones." I reply with ease.
"Booth…" You begin and I look over at you once more.
"Yeah?" I don't know if I like the direction this is heading.
"You don't think the reason I'm not getting close with my father is because I already have someone I'm so close to?"
I know it took you a lot of effort to say that there Bones. "No. The reason you're not close yet is because you still have so much to rebuild. You can always be close with more than one person you know."
"I understand that. It's just… I don't think I can ever be as close with my father, with anyone, as much as I am with you." That admission was deep. Another inconsistency. Forever claiming the 'partners' motive, yet from the way your velvet voice spoke to me there, I would say it runs an awful lot deeper than simply partners.
"Thanks Bones. Our kind of close can be different from other kinds of close. Perhaps we're simply too close for anyone to overtake our relationship…" I'll leave that implication to hang in the air.
I look over and see everything I feel, reflecting in your pretty blue eyes. How I could be lost in those things. I quickly return my eyes to the road, to prevent me crashing and killing the two of us on the way.
I, however, as the judge of this case, find you guilty of lying. Lying, you would ask, if I told you. Yes, lying Bones, on the account of you claiming there is nothing but friendship, when you feel everything so much deeper underneath.
Now it isn't just me who thinks you feel something for me. There has got to be a million other people who have mistaken us as a couple. And every single time we deny it. I'm starting to get the feeling that I don't want to deny it any longer.
Now, before we start discussing couples and stuff, I need to find you in this almighty, never-ending, squeaky clean lab. Jesus, it might be easier to find you if someone had hidden you in a bloody broom cupboard.
There you are. You're with another FBI agent. A male FBI agent. A young, good-looking FBI agent. He's got his hand on the wall, trying to be impressive. This kid is gonna have to learn not to mess with you…or with me concerning you…
I stop a distance away, so neither of you can see me. I'm behind you, so you wouldn't see me anyway. I want to see what this punk has to say for himself.
"So, Dr Brennan, how's things with Agent Booth?" he asks, in his greasy charming manner. How dare you ask her about me? God, if your mother knew what you were doing boy…
"Things are perfectly fine, thank you. Your reason for asking though, Agent…" That's it Bones. Set him on the straight and narrow, then make him feel Thumbelina size by not remembering his name.
"Tacey. It's Agent Cain Tacey. I wanted to know because if you're looking for a new partner…" Well Cainy boy, I'm not going anywhere, so kindly step away from the lady if you please.
"I'm not looking for a new partner and you have a cheek to presume otherwise." Hooray for you Bones! You go woman! Now wait a second, why is he trying to enclose you in like that? Your back is to open space, don't let it face the wall woman! He's trying a sleaze ball move on you!
"I don't think I do, Dr Brennan." That's it, let's move!
Before you have time to answer Bones, I've come into his line of sight and he knows he's in the shit now. I stop behind you and I can see the panic begin to grip him.
Resting my hands on your shoulders, I take my possessive stance, standing tall over you. You don't flinch when you feel my touch, even though you weren't expecting it and have no idea who it was touching you. How far you've come Bones.
"I think it's time to leave my girl alone Agent Tacey." Those were not the words I intended to use, but they were out all the same Bones. You seem alright with that though.
And when he steps toward you, in what I saw as some form of a threat, dangerous words begin to rise in my throat when suddenly you take a step back, leaning your back against my chest. The words die instantaneously as I feel a deep need to protect you.
Apparently this sent our message loud and clear to our dear friend. "Right," he spat. "I didn't realise you two were dating."
He quickly spun on his heel and marched away like a twelve year old girl in a strop about her pigtails. It would have been amusing, had you still not been so close to me. My thoughts were running on the pure primal level of protecting you.
"Thank God he's gone," you say, yet you don't extract yourself from me.
Acting from the jury's point of view, where they are outsiders and unbiased, I find you guilty. People always think we are involved and hints are dropped frequently by Angela. If it's so obvious to everyone else, why isn't it obvious to you?
Now the evidence is all stacked up against you Bones, there is no point trying to divert the course of justice. Here I am, executioner, clad in black with my axe. Just kidding. I do have a black suit on today, if that helps at all.
I come upon your office and there you are, Angela helping you zip up a hot dress. I wonder what occasion calls for you to look that awesome Bones. You always look awesome mind you, but even this blows away your usual standards. It's Vegas all over again.
Lord, black makes your eyes sparkle. It shows all your feminine curves off to their best advantage and Angela notices. She gives me a sly grin before leaving the room with a parting comment, "You might wanna shut that. You'll catch flies in there."
I click my teeth together and mutter something you don't catch. "What's up Booth?" You ask, sweeping your hair off your neck into an elegant up-do at the back, and pinning it securely.
"Nothing Bones. Where you going? I have a case that I want you to look over for me…" Even though it's part of our line of work to look at cases, I like to say it's for me. Makes it much more intimate.
"Got stuff to do with my book today. Photo shoot or something like that." Just think Bones, if you hadn't been a forensic anthropologist, you certainly could have been a model. And a top one at that.
"You look good," I say. Woman, you look better than good, so I say as much, "In fact, you look better than good. You're really pretty like that."
"Thanks Booth," you smile and come closer to me. Really close. The temptation to reach out and touch your face is almost overpowering. I gulp. Visibly.
"Is something wrong?" you ask me. Everything is wrong right now. How my stomach is all knotted inside and my hand is beginning to tremble with you being so close to me. The fact I'm scared to do something about us is wrong. The fact we're not an 'us' is wrong.
But now is the wrong moment. You feel so close and yet so far Bones. I will kiss you at some point, just….not yet.
You step away anyway. You go and find start hunting around for your bag. "I really hate these things," you say, muffled as you look for your stuff. I see down on your knees under the desk and I say sharply, "Get up Bones! I'll look for the bag, don't waste your dress."
You get warily to your feet and step back, allowing me access to the area you were searching in. You move out my way completely retreat to the other end of your office. I wave for you to continue as I get down onto my hands and knees, "So what 'things' were you talking about Bones?"
"All this publicity stuff. My interviews for previous books…Well, watching them back again, they went bad. I watched other authors being interviewed. They seem to be more open than I was. A lot more was said in jest. The interviewer seemed happy chatting with them."
"You were rather literal and kinda stopped every question dead in it's tracks. The interviewer was kinda lost with you Bones. Jokes do help an interview along, when you and the interviewer just chat about any old thing." I know it's painful for you Bones, but you have to hear the truth.
"I like coming into my lab, doing my work and solving cases with you. I write books on the side. That's it. I don't want to talk about meaningless stuff…or the world knowing my business." I've found your handbag, you had it stashed away in a drawer of your desk. Why it's in there, God only knows…
I rise to my feet and dust off my knees. I see you perched on the arm of your sofa, swinging your leg. Some would have taken that for merriment, but the look on your face contradicts all that. It's obviously done because you're agitated and don't know how to handle all this.
I come across to you and hand you your handbag, gently placing it in your hands. You look up at me and then away again, unsure what to do. I place an arm around your shoulders and let you rest your head on my shoulder. "Bones, don't get so wound up. That was your first ever interview. It was new to you and it's difficult."
"I know, it's a photo-shoot for the front cover of the magazine today. As well as an interview. What if the photos go as bad as the rest of it?"
"They won't. You'll be better at the interview this time, because you know what to expect. I don't think photos could go wrong with you if they tried."
"I'll take that as a compliment then Booth."
"You should because it was meant as one. I don't think you're ever going to be the best at interviews, because they don't have any purpose. You can't do chatting with people just for the sake of it, can you Bones?"
"Not really no." That's alright Bones, because I love chatting with people. So what about if I help you out a little?
"Did they say you couldn't take anyone with you?" I ask, praying for your own sake they didn't say.
"They didn't say, why do you ask Booth?" Bingo!
"Well, what if I come along, help you with the interview? They can ask us both questions since we are partners. And since one of the main characters is based on me."
"He is not based on you!! But that would be nice of you Booth, if you could help me answer a question. You are likely to say something that will make me comment. Since you always have a way of making me comment."
"I can also help steer you away from saying stuff that you shouldn't. Make sure you don't stop the interview dead. I can help joke around so the interview goes as smoothly as possible." I sure am singing my praises here Bones, but I don't want this to go as badly as your last one. I cringed so hard for you that day.
Plus this is all true anyway. I'll make a joke or something, then you'll argue with me, with what I said. That should make for an interesting interview. If you make any mistakes, I can cover for you. If you say something literal, I'll help restart the thing.
"Let's get going then," I say, as I remove my arm from your shoulders and rocket towards the door to pick up your jacket. God help me when my boss finds out I've been sneaking off to do photo-shoots…
"So you're to be in the photograph too then?" the photographer asks me. I nod as he shoves me towards the make-up department. I come back forty-five minutes later, hoping to never see the inside of such a place again.
"Booth, what's wrong?" you ask, for the second time that day. You're already dolled up, perfectly beautiful to face the camera.
"Make-up. There was so much make-up. Now there's so much on my face," I say, because I really am quite shaken at how much they put on me. Face powder and all that sort of stuff is made for women, not men.
This is the first time I've seen you smile today and in a moment, I don't mind that I feel like a pansy, so long as you begin to ease up a bit.
"Over here, if you please," the photographer called, motioning us over to this blue background thing. "Right you two, I want you to pose. Do anything, I'll capture the moment. Take off your jacket, son."
So he hustles us over to stand in front of the blue background. It's just a clear sky blue, nothing much else about it. I throw my suit jacket off to the side and straight my tie. Make sure my belt-buckle is in plain view. "Ok, let's pose people," he says, raising his camera. You take my arm and stand as regal as a British soldier. I can't help it. I begin to laugh and you turn to look at me, confused but amused. I hear the click of the shutter in the camera.
"Bit too much Bones. More like this," I say as grab your waist and pull you in tight for a dance pose. I hear the camera clicking rapidly and the flash of the light dazzles my eyes.
I spin you round in a waltz and drop you low while you laugh. I tickle your sides and I kiss your cheek. You have a surprised but pleased look on your face. At last the photographer stops us. "Alright, I have enough for a good photo. Get to the interview. It's just down the hall, last door on your right."
We nod and as we come out into the corridor, the interviewer yanks us in. "Sit down, sit down," she says, polite and gracious. She has an easy smile and kind eyes, telling me she is not gonna to be too hard on you Bones. Telling me that she is one of the most social people on the planet, and will get you talking in no time, with my help.
"Hello. You don't mind if I set this up, do you?" she smiles, getting out her tape-recorder and setting it to record to copy everything we say, rather than her trying to write it all down. She does have some notes, on questions she wants to ask you. "Ready?" she asks, and you nod. I nod too.
" So welcome Dr Brennan. I was going to get straight into your new book, Bones to Bones, but I simply must ask. Who is this hunk you brought with you?" she smiles, causing you to smile and me to blush.
"This is Special Agent Seeley Booth," you reply, to which the interviewer nods, and then says, "And what is he to you?"
I begin to state that I'm your partner, when you cut across me and said, "He's my partner…and my best friend." If we hadn't been sitting with an interviewer. I would have kissed you there and then.
A week later, the magazine got delivered to your house when we were reviewing a case. Something got shoved through the letterbox and I could see your eyes turn curiously towards the door. You left my side and went out into the hall.
I could see you picking up something and then your eyes lighting with amusement as you ambled back into the room. My curiosity got the better of me, causing me to ask you, "What's that you got Bones?"
"It's the magazine," you smile and hand it to me, coming to stand on my left side.
There we are on the front cover, hands linked, facing forward, looking ready to dance. The two of us simply sparkle with chemistry on there.
"We look great together," I say, trying my best to sound casual. I hand it back to you and you fling it onto the couch.
"Yeah we do," you sigh softly, before stepping very close to me and clutching my arm, making me turn to face you. My heartbeat increases and I can feel it hammering rapidly against my ribcage.
"Thanks Booth… for doing that with me," you say quietly before reaching up and kissing my cheek. Your hair is very close and it has a subtle pretty scent coming from it. Your lips are warm and soft on my cheek.
When you pull back, I say, "No problem Bones." That's not really what my heart wants to say but it's about the best I can manage.
You try to stifle a laugh of wry amusement. "Um Booth… there's lipstick on your cheek. I'm sorry."
I've decided now is the moment to take the plunge when you reach up to clean it off. I catch your wrist in my hand in a gentle but firm grip. "That's alright Bones. Leave it. I want to keep it."
I feel you shiver in my grip and your eyes curiously search my face. Your eyes lock with mine. I can see every shade of blue swirling around in there. My gaze wanders down to your lips. They look soft and supple. God, I really want to kiss them.
Slowly I tilt my head to the side and begin to inch down. You reach up to meet me. We slowly move together, until things begin to get passionate. I let go of your wrist and it winds up with your fingers running through my hair. My two hands end up on your face, holding you tenderly.
Finally we break for air and you look up at me. You give me a smile. I knew the moment was right for you too, in that simple look. "I want to keep that too," I smile playfully. And then our moment begins all over again.
So, acting as your executioner, the one who delivers the swift course of justice where you have been found guilty, I declare that your punishment should be to kiss me senseless for the next ten minutes.