Trust is a MUST by Jaed
This is for the September CBPC.
A/N: I know, I know, no warning. This is actually only a K+ rating which is pretty astounding for me. Since the request came out for entries this month I decided to show my support for CBPC by entering. I hope you enjoy this and as always thanks for reading. Your comments are always appreciated.
Disclaimer: They are not mine but I bet they're happier playing at my house…
Brennan's hands are poised over the keyboard, a frown of concentration deepens as she struggles for the wording that she needs to complete her report with accuracy. She's about to start typing when a shadow crosses her desk. When she looks up Cam is standing there with her arms folded across her chest.
"Dr. Brennan you're ten minutes late for the meeting. We discussed this several times this week, it's not optional."
Temperance sighs heavily, hating the interruption but knowing Cam is right. "Sorry Cam, time got away from me." She saves and closes her document and gets up from her chair. "Let's get this over with so I can go back to work."
"I couldn't agree more. You know I didn't have anything to do with this event. When we were inspected this year to qualify for our grant money the visiting team determined that there was a basic lack of trust and an inability to socialize in our employees so we have to do this training to satisfy them. Believe me I'd much rather be working but let's go play their game so we can all get back to work." Just then Brennan's phone rings and she glances at Cam and picks it up.
"I'll just take this and come down." Cam shoots her a glance but walks away from her.
Temperance snaps the phone open, looking almost relieved. "Tell me we have an emergency case Booth."
"Wow, I was expecting hello. What's going on Bones?"
"We have to do some team exercise because the grant people think we have a basic lack of trust and social skills in the staff here."
"What a shock." He can't contain the chuckle in his voice.
"Booth, it isn't funny just tell me we have a case so I can get out of it." Her voice has an edge of desperation in it.
"Not a chance Bones, I wouldn't want to deprive you of this vital training. It'll be good for you. As a matter of fact I think I'll stop by and watch."
"Not funny Booth." She's getting angry.
"You better go Bones, I'll see you in a little while." The line goes dead as he snaps his phone shut and she's left with no escape. Temperance tucks her phone back in her pocket and heads out to join the group.
Zach, Jack, Angela and Cam are all on the floor along with two people she doesn't know waiting for her. As she approaches they turn in her direction.
"Ah, here's Dr. Brennan now, so we may begin." Cam smiles at her with a look of almost empathy.
Temperance turns her attention to the two people that she doesn't know and tries to look interested. There's a man and a woman, annoyingly dressed alike in white slacks and long sleeved shirts that say "Trust is a MUST" in light blue on the front of them. They have smiles that look like an ad for toothpaste and the thought almost starts Temperance laughing. In her mind they are ridiculous, the type of overly excited people that normally make her a little nauseous. The woman is bouncing on the balls of her feet as she addresses the group.
"Hi everyone, my name is Dana and this is my partner Don. We're here to teach you about trusting one another. Let's start with your names. Please go around and state your name for the group." Her voice has a sing song quality that makes Temperance think of cheerleaders.
"Exuse me but if we already know each other why are we stating our names for the group?" Zach is genuinely confused. Temperance rolls her eyes.
It's the blonde woman that answers him, "well it's really so we can get to know you but kudos to you for asking the first question."
"Kudos?" Temperance and Zach speak the word at the same instant and Angela bursts out laughing. Both trainers are just staring at the group.
Angela gathers herself and steps up. "Let me help out here. Zach, we're introducing ourselves to our guests, not each other and listen up here Bren, kudos is like saying 'good for you'." Turning toward the trainers she continues, "Unless you want this to be the longest day of your life you'll simplify matters and just get right to it." By now Cam is laughing too and uttering apologies under her breath. "I'm Angela Montenegro, artist and interpreter. The cute guy shaking his head is Dr. Jack Hodgins." Jack obediently raises his hand and waves. "The two asking about your kudos comment are Dr. Zach Addy and Dr. Temperance Brennan, respectively, the yin and yang of genius around here. Last and certainly not least the woman laughing is Dr. Camille Saroyan, our boss. Will that do?"
Both trainers have their mouths hanging open in shock. They seem to have lost control, or possibly never had it. It's Don that finally recovers enough to speak.
"Okay, well now that we all know one another let's ask a simple question. Do you trust one another?" He's smiling bravely at the group.
"If we say yes are we done?" Jack can't help it, he's certain this type of training is a cover for government brainwashing to gain control and induce complacency so they can manipulate experiment results. He hates these events.
Angela and Cam simultaneously shoot him a look and he falls silent, dropping his head like a scolded child.
Cam decides to step up and take control of the situation. "Yes, this is a tight little group and I'd say they trust each other more than most working teams."
"Good then we'll begin the exercise to see how much." She's smiling brightly at Cam and all Cam wants to do is go in her office and shut the door. This woman is like an annoying fly buzzing around when you're trying to concentrate. Don has turned and opens a small table about four feet in height and is laying a blue exercise mat perpendicular to it on the floor. "This exercise is all about trust, it's about believing your team mates will do the right thing. Now I need you to line up so three of you are on one side of the mat and two of you are on the other, facing one another." She waves her arm, gesturing down the length of the mat and the group complies, standing so Angela and Jack are on one side and Brennan, Cam and Zach are on the other with the mat between them like a small runway to the table. Don comes down and joins Angela and Jack but to Jack's irritation places himself between them. There are now three people on each side and everyone has fallen silent as they try to figure out the exercise.
Dana climbs up on the table and stands before the group. Cam and Brennan sigh in unison and then smile at each other in mutual agony.
"I have just met all of you but I'm going to show you an act of trust. Can I trust you?" Dana is still smiling her bright smile, even when only Don responds with a resounding yes. She stares at the group and nods her head in encouragement. "I need to hear you answer me people, I said I'm going to show you an act of trust. Now, can I trust you?" The group states a firm yes this time much to Dana's delight.
"The question is can we trust you? Are you a governmentally funded agency?" Everyone groans at Jacks questions and Cam hisses a 'NOT NOW' in his direction.
Angela feels strangely like she's back in seventh grade gym class but can tell by the look on Bren's face across from her that her friend is barely tolerating what she has already deemed as a huge waist of her time.
Dana's voice squeaks back to life, "everybody put your arms out in front of you with your palms facing up and move yourselves a little closer together. I'm going to turn around and drop myself off this table into your arms and trust that you will all catch me and keep me from hitting the ground."
Every one in the group immediately looks at her like she has completely lost her mind.
"The distribution of her weight over all of our arms falling from that height will be easy to sustain, approximately 12 lbs of pressure per arm. The physics of it is quite simple." Zach looks like he's assuring himself more than anyone else. He smiles weakly at Dana before she turns around and presents her back to them. Everyone tenses their arms and waits.
"Okay, on the count of three I'm going to drop. One…two…three." To the amazement of the group Dana falls straight back and into their arms, they dip slightly under the weight of her but manage to tip their arms and stand her on her feet pretty quickly. The relief is evident on their faces and is followed quickly by grins of satisfaction.
"Well done, now let's test your trust in each other. Angela since you seem to be the most outspoken of the group why don't you start." Dana tilts her head, the annoying overly wide smile has returned.
"Start what?" Angela looks innocent even though she has an idea of what this crazy woman is asking.
"Why start the group off doing this exercise. Each of you is going to try it and I'd like you to go first. You do trust your friends to catch you don't you?" Despite the smile Angela feels this is revenge for her earlier sarcasm with the woman and she smiles back. She looks over at Jack, who gives her a small nod and she can see in his eyes that he's encouraging her to go. She knows these people won't let her fall. As she moves to the platform Dana begins to pull out the mat.
"Hold on, what are you doing?" Angels asks from the table, her face now scrunched in concern.
"I'm removing the mat, you said they would catch you." The look of satisfaction on her face turns Angela's stomach. She's just about to further her protest when Dr. Saroyan steps in and saves her.
"These are some of the finest minds in the nation. There are only a handful of people that can do what they do. How about if we leave the mat there, after all if there was an accident it would mean the difference between confusion and a concussion and we wouldn't want anyone getting hurt." She mirrors the instructors smile and Angela has to suppress her laugh. Dana drops the mat, taking Angela's place in the line and Angela nods her thanks to Cam. She turns around and takes a deep breath. After a moment Dana speaks to her.
"Do you want me to do the count down for you?" The voice is too sweet.
Angela looks over her shoulder, grinning. "No, no just give me a moment."
Brennan speaks up next, unable to hold her tongue any longer. "Ange if you don't want to do this you don't have to, you can just get down." Her voice is calm and Angela recognizes that she's trying to sooth her.
"I'm okay Bren, just get ready." They all tense their arms as Angela bends her knees slightly. "One…two…three." She drops back like she's feinted and the group easily catches her and stands her on her feet. Angela bounces on her toes and lets out a yelp.
"Perfect you guys, that was awesome. It was harder to just drop back than I thought but that was so cool." This time her smile is genuine
Dana smiles at the group. "Who's next?"
No one moves or speaks for a full minute until finally Zach shyly looks up. "I'll go."
He climbs onto the table and puts his back to the group. He keeps bending his knees.
"Try to keep your legs fairly straight and just fall back." Dana tries to sound calming but her squeaky voice just comes out anxious instead.
Zach looks over his shoulder at the group. "You know this isn't natural. It's against your instincts to let yourself fall. The only two fears an infant is born with are the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises." He turns back and the group watches him take a deep breath. "One…two…three." His fall is lopsided, as his mind sent his body back he instinctually curled against the drop but they managed to catch him and somewhat awkwardly set him back on his feet.
He looks visibly shaken and not at all like he enjoyed the experience but is relieved to have his turn out of the way.
Jack and Cam take turns without much trouble. Having watched the others successfully drop they are more relaxed. Jack makes sure to tell the group that due to muscle mass he's heavier than he appears and Cam drops rather stiffly but in the end they both complete the task. It's as Cam finishes and is brushing her hands down her jeans that all eyes turned to Temperance.
"I'm sure I'm exempt and we can just call this done." She speaks with confidence and Cam smiles, knowing she's trying to get out of it.
"Dr. Brennan, we all wore jeans today so we could participate in this exercise, including you. If I'm not exempt, I'm sure you can understand why you're not exempt." Cam doesn't want her to be too uncomfortable but her instructions that everyone complete the ridiculous trust training were clear.
Off in the corner Seeley has been watching since Zach had dropped, tucked behind a pillar on the floor he's been amused by the little game. He's mostly been watching Temperance, the tension in her stance and fear in her eyes can be seen from across the room. He knew she would refuse, it's just against her nature. Things start sounding heated when he approaches the small group.
"You guys are playing games in the middle of the day and didn't invite me, I'm hurt." He puts his hand to his chest and tries to pout, looking wounded.
Temperance's face lightens up at seeing him and Cam shows a knowing smile.
"Agent Booth we'd be glad to have you join us. Dr. Brennan was just about to do her trust drop. Dana, why don't you sit this one out and we'll let Booth step into your spot." Cam knows that with Seeley here her chances of getting Dr. Brennan on the table are much greater. Whatever the thing is between them, she can't deny they do better when together.
"Is he part of your staff, because this is supposed to be a staffing exercise?" Dana doesn't like late comers and Booth's presence has noticeably lifted the spirits of the group.
It's Temperance that answers, "He's my partner and most definitely part of this group. He's an integral part of our team, but I'm still not jumping off this table."
"Bones, come over here for a minute. I need to speak to you about something and then we can continue." Booth flashes his easy smile at her and she breaks from the group, thinking he's come to actually get her out of this nightmare.
Dana is beginning to look anxious again. "Mr. Booth, we don't usually allow for the exercise to be interrupted with private conversations."
Booth just grins and flashes his badge at the annoying woman. "It's Agent Booth, with the F.B.I. and I need to talk to Dr. Brennan for a moment on an urgent matter and then you can finish what you're doing. Perhaps you've noticed this isn't your usual group." Without waiting for a response Booth takes Bones by the arm and leads her around the corner where they can't be seen.
Her eyes are darting all over the place and he can feel the fear seeping out of her. He takes her chin in his hand and waits for her to look at him before placing a soft kiss on her lips. He pauses and lowers his lips to hers again. She's frozen for a second but as his lips meet hers again she responds and kisses him back. His lips are soft against hers and as he tilts his head and fits his mouth against hers she opens to him. Her tongue slides into him, stroking his gently and causing a rush of heat between them. He breaks away from her mouth and looks at her.
"Booth, what the hell was that? What are you doing?" Her words are filled with shock and her eyes are filled with fear and desire but he's grateful that she isn't angry. It was a sizable risk on his part.
"Temperance, do you really think that I would ever let anything happen to you?" His voice is low, almost a whisper and he's still so close his breath mingles with hers as he speaks. His eyes are almost black and she can feel the need coming off him in waves. All she can think about is kissing him again.
"No, I know you wouldn't. You kissed me." He smiles and kisses her again.
"Yes, I did and unless you haul off and punch me I'm going to do it again, and not just today. Right now though you're going to go out there and drop off that table and I'm going to catch you along with your friends. In your heart you have to know that not one of them would ever drop you. Okay, maybe Cam but the rest of us won't let her." He's smiling and kissing her and she can't catch her breath or hold a thought. Did he just say he was going to keep on kissing her?
"Booth, you kissed me." It's all her mouth can seem to say.
"Yes I did and we'll talk about it after Mr. and Mrs. Annoying leave. Now, let's go out there and get this done, okay?" His voice is just a whisper and he kisses her again. This time she meets him half way. After a moment he pulls away from her. "We have to go out there, they're waiting for us." She turns to go and pauses to look at him. "Why today Seeley? After all this time, why now?"
"You said today was the day for trust building, I figured that was a good sign and you would either trust me or lay me out on the floor. Either way I was going to end up with at least one kiss so it was worth it to try. I've been thinking about it for a long time."
"But…" He doesn't let her continue.
"We'll talk about this after your leap of faith or whatever it is, now get out there."
"I think I've already taken a leap of faith today." The smile she gives him makes his chest actually ache.
"Then this next one should be easy." They stroll back out to the crowd and it's obvious that Temperance is much more relaxed. She climbs up on the table and Seeley steps into line with the others. Angela is absolutely beaming at him.
"Whatever you said to her certainly worked." She arches her brow as though questioning him.
"I told her if you guys dropped her I'd line you up and shoot you." The group laughs warmly and Dana scowls.
"This is supposed to be about trust not threats, Agent Booth do you understand the exercise? You did miss the beginning when I explained everything." She sounds edgy now and not very happy with how things are going.
Zach's head pops up and he looks at Dana. "Oh, he always threatens to shoot us, he's only kidding. Right Booth?" The others chuckle and Booth, as usual, ignores Zach. Dana is confused by the fact the young man just smiles even more.
Temperance's voice from the table causes them all to look up to where she stands waiting. "Don't worry Dana, Booth knows all about trust. He's sort of our compass where that's concerned." She smiles at the group and they nod I agreement. "Everybody ready?" For her, they answer as one with a loud YES.
Dana doesn't know what to make of this. She usually has no problem relating to a group and actually by the end she always feels like she's bonded with them, often ending up with long term friendships from the experience. She wonders how it is that today she is almost done and still feels like such an outsider.
"One…two…THREE." Temperance falls back with her eyes shut and her hands balled into fists. They catch her with ease and set her on her feet. As much as she doesn't like to have her personal space invaded she has to admit that there is something comforting about having been caught by the hands of all the people that care about her.
After much showmanship, removing his shoes, suit coat, badge and gun, Booth lets the group catch him. Their arms dip a little more from the weight of him but they manage to hang on to him and shove him back into a standing position. They actually clap when it's over.
The group breaks and goes back to work while Booth and Brennan duck into her office. They do after all have a conversation to continue.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Two weeks later they're all in the lunch room taking a quick break to eat while in the middle of a large case when Cam walks in and asks for their attention.
"Today I received our certificate for having completed our trust building class. It was originally recommended that we do two to three different classes with these people but after finishing our first one the company of "Trust is a MUST" informed the surveyors that we would not need any other training. The reasons given were, and I quote, "they are more like family than colleagues and demonstrate so much trust in each other that it almost causes them to exclude everyone else."
The room broke into a cheer.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Thanks for reading, as always, comments are appreciated.