Hey! This is my first Bones fanfic, and I hope it's ok. :/
I wrote Booth as, when he's thinking; to just think about it all and consider things that he feels. I wrote Bones as more controlled, only thinking what she wanted to, and not allowing stray desires to cloud her judgement – except, of course, in times of weakness or self realisation ;)
I hope the changes in perspective don't confuse you :D
He knew something had changed.
He used to look at her like she was a brilliant scientist. Like she was just that – a forensic anthropologist; the best there was, and that was all there was to it.
But, as time passed, he realised he was starting to see more than that when he caught sight of her face. He became more aware of how his heart beat just that little bit harder, just a bit faster, when he walked into the lab and saw her. How his eyes would crinkle as he looked around, then his face cleared when he located her and the cheeky smile he reserved for her would wait behind his lips for when she saw him.
She didn't notice, as far as he knew, but her damn squint squad had noticed long ago, and Angela had decided to take on the role of Matchmaker. So far, she had had little success, and he berated himself for wishing that Ange would poke their relationship into fruition – but his lady anthropologist wasn't interested like that... of course she wasn't.
Dr Temperance Brennan was no longer just a scientist – she was his friend. His companion, his shoulder to cry on, someone to take care of, and he was the same to her.
Special Agent Seeley Booth mulled this over as he drove to the Jeffersonian institute. Normally, a long drive would calm him down and allow him to collect his thoughts, but as he snaked through traffic with barely a glance, his practiced hand stroking the wheel into the direction he wanted; he couldn't help but glance over to the empty passenger seat and miss his Bones sitting there, begging to drive.
His Bones. If he was with Sweets and said 'his Bones' in that manner, he'd get probing questions as to his protectiveness and whether or not he cared for her more than he let on... this irritated him. Bones' voice echoed in his head; alpha male tendencies....
He stifled a chuckle, half turning to explain his laugh, but realised again that Temperance wasn't in the car. He turned back to the front with a muffled grunt. He hadn't seen her over a week – no FBI cases for her to work on; so she was able to work on her real job – and there was no new work for her to do with / for the FBI, but he had decided he wanted to talk to her again.
Having decided this, he refused to dwell on why he wanted to see her; or if she would want to see him. He put it down to boredom; there hadn't been much going on at the FBI – and if there had been, he would have found a way to get her and her squints involved.
Booth realised suddenly that he had just driven straight past the Jeffersonian, and he made a sharp turn into the next street and then pulling into a tight U-turn. He got boxed in by a dumpster, and extricated himself with difficulty and laboriously drove back and parked in front of the building.
Dr Brennan watched this display from her window, laughing to herself as she saw him pull himself from his SUV. He must have some new case that the FBI's pathetic forensics team are having trouble with; she thought, and noticed a small pang in her gut as she noted how she rarely saw him at all without some kind of case to crack.
She had reasoning to explain this, of course. I'm his tool for success. My team and I working cases for him gives him extra credibility in the FBI... he doesn't need me for anything else. She paused, then relented to her more emotionally weighed thoughts and allowed herself to catalogue them too. And even if he did want to see me... or be friends outside of work... she swallowed convulsively. In any way more than we are now... even if he wanted that, he wouldn't act on it, because it would jeopardise our work.
She steeled herself. And it would jeopardise their work, and their friendship.
She continued to chew it over in her head, sitting in her office with a semi-assembled skull laying forgotten on her desk.
She jumped with a start as she heard a slight whispered thump as Booth materialised in her doorway, leaning against the frame.
"Hey Bones," he said cheerfully, with his classical bent smile that he always gave her. She refused to acknowledge the fact that it warmed her heart when she saw it... and when she saw him. Don't think like this... it will only lead to you getting hurt, she told herself, even though it warred with her emotions. Booth would never hurt you, whispered her more errant side.
She ignored the battle raging in her mind and donned her usual cool mask.
"Hey Booth. A case?"
Booth felt hyper-alert as he bounced himself back up from the frame. He noted instantly how a welcoming emotion had jumped unbidden onto her face when she had seen him, but had been shaken off in favour of her usual emotionless expression.
He also saw how she assumed he was only there because he wanted her assistance in a problem. He filed those facts away for dissection at a later time, and answered.
"No... there hasn't been anything going on for ages. Probably why you haven't seen much of me, eh?"
He couldn't gauge her reaction to this statement, stoic as she was.
"I see. So why are you here? I have... some work to do," she said, indicating the fragments on her desk. Booth eyed them for a moment.
The skull was criss-crossed with so many tiny lines that he had trouble understanding it, until he realised that they were all infinitesimal chips of bone that Bones had somehow assembled back to almost a whole skull. There was craft glue next to her and a magnifying glass was suspended, apparently forgotten, in her hand.
"Cool – but why are you still here? It's getting late," he said, trying to make casual conversation.
She just looked at him as though answering his question was an unnecessary action for her... and it was. She took a breath. "Well, you know me."
He did. He knew her so well....
"Come out to eat with me," he said abruptly – and then mentally smacked himself.
He tried not to grit his teeth as she looked up at him in surprise. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid....
Bones stared as her mind bubbled along at a slower rate than usual (which was still faster than most people's minds) and she realised with some difficulty that he had just asked her to do something – out of the blue, with no premeditation, not as a reward for them both after a case, not for anything, except for simple companionship.
At least, that's what she told herself, and then noticed she was telling herself that, and told herself to stop telling herself that.
"Sure," she said after a moment, then kicked herself mentally. What was she doing? No matter the situation, it all boiled down to her trusting Booth enough to agree to his plans without a second thought. Who knew what his intentions were? She had learned not to trust people... and yet she always felt safe with him around, and somehow she knew it wasn't the fact that he was a trained sniper in shining FBI standard issue body armour who would always save her life if it needed saving.
Also, she just really liked him and enjoyed his company.
They both stared at each other as she stood up.
It was awkward. Booth felt guilty for creating the situation by asking in the first place, and Bones felt guilty for creating the situation by not responding negatively.
"What are you thinking?" blurted Booth with a face half-tensed for rebuttal. Bones thought hastily for a moment, then replied.
"I'm thinking that this is kind of awkward... and that I wish I knew what you were thinking because it would help me know if we were on the same page."
A pause ensued. Bones' eyes widened slightly as she realised that what she had said sounded like she wanted confirmation that they were going out as more than just colleagues, and then she realised that somewhere inside, that's what she wanted it to sound like.
"Well... this is a... friendly... I mean, well, not just friendly, that makes it sound too casual-" began Booth with difficulty.
"Too casual for what?" interrupted Brennan automatically. Booth paused, and Brennan blushed.
Then Booth sighed. "Look, I'm going to throw all caution to the winds. Come out with me, please? Not as Dr Bones and Agent Booth... Temperance and Seeley."
The first thing Brennan registered was that he had used her name, which she hated, and his name, which he hated; and then her mind registered what he was implying.
Booth's stomach muscles knotted into hard little clumps and tied themselves together and shivered. He felt utterly bare as he waited for her to respond – what had he just said? Did she catch what he meant? Did he want her to catch what he meant?
Bones looked down for a moment, eyes wild, and took a calming, steadying breath - at least, that's what she attempted. She looked up, saw the sincerity and the fear of rejection painted all over his face, and felt a small smile curve her lips without permission.
"Okay," she said softly, the usual commanding harshness out of her voice.
Booth's face broke into a smile and he bounced over cheerfully. "Cool, the SUV's outside. I'll meet you there, okay?"
"Sure," said Temperance, some of her confidence returning. She decided that they'd been toeing the line enough recently that if their relationship went wrong, it would be no less awkward than trying to act normal with all their (sexual) tension.
The rest of the squad of squints watched as Booth exited Brennan's office with a barely restrained grin on his face and he bounced down the stairs happily. When they saw Brennan herself exit with her coat and bag (and a nervous smile), they saw it instantly.
Angela began squealing uncontrollably, and Hodgins started laughing. Zach looked more than a little confused, so Hodgins explained the presumed situation to him.
As Booth glanced over at them, Hodgins gave a little thumbs-up, and then something occurred to him. He frowned, grabbed Zach, and hurried around to the door ahead of Booth. Brennan paused on the stairs and watched the encounter.
"Hey buddy," said Jack. "Look, I'm happy for you and all, but since Brennan hasn't... hasn't got a dad or brother to do it for her... figured we should probably do it."
Booth wasn't sure what they meant, but waited for him to continue. Even Zach had caught on, which was surprising to Hodgins – he'd only brought Zach so he wasn't on his own.
"If she gets hurt," began Zach.
"Whether it be your fault or not," Hodgins.
"You won't be without adequate persecution," finished Zach.
While Booth's initial thoughts were that it was a really good thing for the two of them to do, his rational side – however small – had to question them.
"Not that I plan on hurting her; as you two should well know," he said with half a grin. "What exactly would you be able to do about it?"
Zach's face broke into a grin, and Hodgins shook his head indulgently.
"My friend, you haven't learned much in your time with us," said Hodgins.
"We have any chemical readily available, and the knowledge with which to use them. We have access to your work and you. We know all about you," ticked off Zach.
"Basically, bro, we have the motive and the means to be... ahem... very unpleasant was anything to happen to her on your watch," said Hodgins. "Even if it wasn't your fault... you take her out, you have a responsibility. Lots of people want her dead...."
"I'll take care of her, man," said Booth seriously. "You know I will."
There was a brief silence, then Zach and Hodgins nodded and moved away. Angela gave them both speechless hugs, muttering to them at high speed about how awesome they had been.
Booth exited and got into his car. He didn't feel phased by their confrontation – he had every intention of keeping her close.
She opened the door abruptly and hopped in carefully, interrupting his thoughts before they could become R rated.
There was a brief silence, and Booth started up the car, nervously wondering what they were going to talk about – but as he pulled out of his parking spot, Bones said the perfect thing to restore their usual companionable banter.
"Aww, can't I drive?"