A/N: What if someone from Seeley's past turned up and helped him to move on from Brennan? Set past ep. 100.

In a Starbucks, somewhat central of Washington DC, a woman of almost 34 sat in the corner of the store, sipping her Grande Chi Tea, and staring out the window, watching people on the streets. As the baristas called out names belonging to the coffees they had just made, this woman, Charlotte, would try match the name with a passer by on the street.

"Anna!" The barista called out. No one in the store seemed to move fast. Even the girl going to claim her drink moved at a slow pace. Charlotte found a girl outside, walking a little Pomeranian, and decided she looked like an Anna.

Her little game was far more interesting than the rest of the patrons sitting inside. They lazily sipped their coffees, eyes grazing over newspaper print. She hadn't realized Washington was so…boring. All she ever heard was about the disturbing crimes at night, and muggings by day. Charlotte, luckily, hadn't been witness to any of that, and found the city completely dull.

"Seeley!" Charlotte turned in her chair, abandoning her game. She knew it was not a very common name, but it couldn't really be the same Seeley she knew, could it?

Charlotte shifted in her chair, sitting on her knees, peering over the back, and watched to see who would claim the name, and the coffee.

And she saw him, in that crisp black suit, bleached white shirt, and flashy red tie. Her mind almost went blank.

"Booth?" She muttered, not able to believe it. "Booth!" She shouted, as he started to walk away. He paused to check that he had his coffee, then turned around, looking for the caller of his name. "Booth!" She said again, not able to stop smiling. She stood up from the chair, and waved her arm at him. She watched as he squinted at her. His reaction just like hers, he muttered her name, then walked closer. He didn't trust his eyes.

"Charlie?" He asked, and jumped up, her arms grabbed his neck, and she hugged him. "I cant believe it." He sounded like he was in awe as he put his arms around her, careful not to spill his drink on her, and they hugged.

"What are you doing in Washington?" Charlotte couldn't keep the grin away from her face. It was Seeley. The first familiar face she'd seen since the day she turned 18 and left Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for good.

"I work here…FBI…Charlie where have you been?" Seeley seemed to be caught between being glad to see her, and concern over where she had been. "You're brother…every time I call him I ask if he's heard from you. It's been almost 10 years Charlie-"

"I know." She said, frowning. She had hoped Seeley had lost contact with Mikey, but apparently not. "Please…don't tell him where I am." She begged. Seeley's look of distress began to fade, and he smiled. Putting down his coffee, he grabbed her again, into one of those Seeley bear hugs she rememeber from when they were young.

"I'm just glad you're alright, Charlie!" He said happily. "We've been worried about you. I mean, I work for the FBI and I couldn't find you."

"You've been checking up on me Seeley?" She laughed.

"I knew you were fine, that if you had disappeared it was because you wanted to." He said, with a smile. "I mean, it's all you've talked about since you were five." He laughed.

"And I did it." She sounded triumphant, but it pained her heart to say it. Booth looked at his watch.

"I have to get to work…" He muttered, staring at the time.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to hold you up-"

"You should come with me." He said, with that famous Seeley grin. "I've just got some paperwork to do. You can come meet the people I work with—you'll love them—and then we can go grab a bite to eat. What do you think?"

"You have actual friends at work? Shocking." She teased. Seeley reached out his hand to her hair and messed it up playfully. "Cut it out!" She said, pushing his arm away. It had been almost 15 years since Charlotte had seen him, but Seeley Booth seemed exactly the same.

"So, you coming?" He asked. She grabbed her purse and her Chi Tea, and followed Seeley Booth.

"This is your office? Not too shabby." Charlotte ran her fingers alone the books placed in his shelves. "No way have you read all these." Booth smirked from behind his desk.

"Don't tell my boss." He said, scribbling on some pieces of paper.

Charlotte watched him. She had moved to this city only a week ago, and had in no way expected to wind up in the office of her old childhood friend, heck, her second old brother, Seeley Booth. Seeley had lived down the street from her when they were younger, and her older brother Mikey had hung around with Seeley and Jared Booth. Jared and Charlotte constantly fought, but her and Seeley had always been very close. She was convinced that it was because they came from such similar backgrounds. Her mother, just like the Booth boy's dad, had been a violent alcoholic. Although her mother never went after Mikey, she had always constantly abused Charlotte, leaving bruises with wooden spoons, books, anything she could through at the girl, and on occasion, the back of her hand.

"Hey Sweetie, I've got that sketch for you." A woman entered the office. Charlotte looked up, her train of thought and memories interrupted. Had this girl just called Booth Sweetie?

"Thanks Ange." Seeley replied, not looking up from his work. The woman, 'Ange', turned Charlotte's way.

"And who's the cute blonde you're keeping locked in here?" She asked. Seeley looked up, and looked from one girl to the other, then stood up.

"Oh! Ange, this is Charlotte Danes. Charlie, this is Angela Montenegro." Booth introduced them. "Angela does facial reconstruction on unidentified remains so we can…well, identify them." Angela and Charlotte shook hands.

"It's nice to meet you." Charlotte said, in awe of Angela. She had beautiful, perfectly curled hair, her face was lovely, and she had the prettiest eyes.

"So, how do you two know each other?" She asked, her eyebrow arched with curiosity.

"We grew up together, he lived right down the street from me." Charlotte explained. "I've known Seeley since before I could walk."

"Aw, really?" Angela tilted her head to one side. "So, you knew like, baby Booth? Was he just adorable?" Charlotte laughed.

"He was much cuter then." Booth put his arm around Charlotte, squeezing her.

"That's enough out of you." He turned to Angela. "You have the sketch?" He asked, and she handed it to him. "Great," he turned back to Charlotte, "I have to go drop these off then we can go, I'll be right back-"

"You drop those off, I'll show her around!" Angela had hooked her arm into Charlotte, and was pulling her away from Seeley.

"No! Angela, wait, I'll bring her around after!" He protested, but Angela already had Charlotte out the door.

"Drop off that paperwork, then come find us!" Angela called over her shoulder, laughing.

"Don't let the squints look at her too long…unless its Daisy!" Booth yelled after them, and Charlotte laughed.

"What in the world is a squint?" She asked.

"That's Booth's term for the smart people in the lab, the people who look at the remains and can determine what, and usually who, killed them."

"He calls them squints? He's such a dork, they sound like super heroes to me." Charlotte said, suddenly amazed by the wide open space of the Jeffersonian. "What's that?" She asked, looking over at a large elevated platform.

"That's the lab, c'mon, I think Brennan and everyone are up there." Charlotte could see blue coats flashing around the platform.

"Are they busy? I don't want to bother them…"

"Oh, they love company." Angela said with a smirk that Charlotte didn't trust. Angela swiped a card through a card reader, and buzzer went off, and the door slid open.

"Did you get that sketch over to Booth?" Asked a woman who was hunched over a table; she had dark hair and eyes, her skin a little tanner than Angela's.

"I sure did, and look what i found!" She said, grabbing Charlotte's arm and pulling her in front. "Booth has a little friend."

"She shouldn't be up here. Remains can be very distressing for people who…aren't us." A woman who had her back turned while she spoke to them had something in her hands. Charlotte was almost positive it was the bone from an arm, or a leg. They were both very similar.

"But, it's Booth's childhood play girl-friend! I mean, play friend." Angela laughed. Charlotte was beginning to feel unwelcome in the lab. "So, get over here Brennan so I can introduce everyone!" There were four other people on the stage other than Charlotte and Angela. Two men, and two women.

"Okay! Everyone, this is Charlotte." Angela said, they all smiled.

"Hi, everyone." Charlotte said with a nervous smile.

"Charlotte, this is Jack Hodgins," Angela pointed to a man with a scruffy beard, "And that's Wendell Bray," he was younger, blond hair and he stood up very straight when his name was said. "This is our boss, Cam Saroyan," the dark hair woman gave a small wave, with a friendly smile. "And this is Temperance Brennan, our on staff genius and Booth's field partner." She had a very serious face, her hair was pulled back, the hair not long enough to be tied was tucked behind her ears.

"Nice to meet you." Her voice was flat. "Hodgins, I need you to test the particles I found on the femur." She was obviously not impressed with Charlotte.

"So, you knew young Booth?" Asked Hodgins, ignoring Brennan. "What was that like?"

"It was like having a second older brother. It was kind of awful." She said thoughtfully, and the majority of them laughed. "It was impossible to date anyone in school, most of the boys were too scared to talk to me because they thought Seeley would beat them up." She sighed, but the memory brought a smile to her face.

"Hey Danes." Charlotte was playing with the lock on her locker. 39-3-39. "What's up?" Charlotte looked up, and Mark Hems was leaning up against the wall next to her, one hand shoved deep into his pocket, the other casually holding a physics book.

"Do you need something Mark?" She asked as she exchanged her books in her locker. A smirk pulled at her lips.

"Well, I was wondering what you were doing Friday night? Timmy McNeal's having a party and I was wondering….if um…if…"Charlotte closed her locker, and looked at the stuttering boy, wondering if her was really that nervous to ask her out. "I…uh, should get going." She noticed he wasn't looking at her, but directly behind her. He turned, and waked in the direction he had just come from. Charlotte pursed her lips. She was going to kill him.

"Seeley." She said before she turned around to face the older Booth brother. "What do you think you're doing?" She demanded, giving the large senior boy a hard shove.

"Why are you talking to Hems? That kid's a punk." He said, glaring off at him walking down the hall.

"Well, he was going to ask me out, until you showed up. Is that what you do between classes? Stake out my locker to make sure boys stay away?" She asked, and he just shrugged. "I'm seriously going to murder you!" She said angrily, walking towards her class and brushing past Seeley.

"He's just not a good kid, Charlie!" He hurried right behind her, she wouldn't even look at him. "If your brother had been walking by, he would have done the same thing."

"No, Seeley! He wouldn't! He'd let me go on a date, find out the kid's a creep, and learn from my mistakes!" She said, stopping in the hall to face him. "You have to let me do things on my own!" She demanded.

"I was just watching out for you…" Charlotte glared at him, took in a sharp breath, then walked off to class alone.

"Was he really a popular jock? I bet he was secretly some chess nerd or something. Did he ever get beaten up?" Hodgins was getting excited.

"Oh, total jock. He did get into a fight once…but he wasn't the one who was beaten up." Charlotte frowned at the memory.

"Bummer." He said, Charlotte and Angela laughed.

"So, what about you?" Wendell asked, "where are you from?"

"Pittsburg, originally, then I moved to Boston, then New York for a few years, then I flew out to L.A., but not for long. After L.A, I went back to New York, and, well, now I'm here."

"Charlotte Danes…" Cam muttered. Charlotte looked at her. "I remember that name…Booth, he had us search for you. Well, not me, I don't do searches, but…I remember he showed me your file. He really wanted you found."

"I needed some…time alone." Charlotte said, trying to blush out of embarrassment. She had an FBI file? How long had Seeley been looking for her? Or, when did he stop?

"Yeah, 15 years of alone time." She turned to see Seeley walking up to them. She shrugged.

"You were getting a little unbearable." She said playfully, and he laughed at her.

"Well, good old fate brought you back to me." He said, and Brennan let out a snort of a laugh.

"If you're going to thank fate Booth, you might as well thank God while you're at it Booth." She said, still fixated on the human remains that Charlotte was trying to ignore. Seeley let out a groan.

"Charlie, you and Bones here will get along just fine. She hates my religion almost as much as you do." He had nodded towards Brennan when he had said 'Bones', and given her job, Charlotte assumed it was her nickname.

"I don't hate your religion, I just find that it's more of an…escape from reality. You put too much stock in what the Religion tells you to do, and how to act." Brennan put the bone down.

"Exactly." Charlotte said. "I've been telling him that since I could talk. Falling back on Catholicism for comfort is just a coping mechanism. No one wants to think that when they die, they're just dead. God and heaven are just things to make it not seem so bad. And basing your life around some fictional stories taken for truth, well, it's just silly." Brenna smiled.

"I like her." She said, nodding. "You should listen to her more often." Charlotte smirked at Seeley.

"Well, little miss know it all here and I are going to get something to eat, catch up a bit. I'll see you guys later." Seeley put his arm on her shoulder to guide her out.

"What are you guys doing later tonight?" Wendell called after them, Charlotte grabbed Seeley's arm to pause him for a moment. "We're getting drinks after work, you should come…you both should." He said, and he smiled at Charlotte.

"Oh, I'm sure Charlie has plans or-"

"That sounds fun." She cut Seeley off, and he frowned.

"Great…we'll call you two later then." Wendell said happily. They all called out 'bye' to Charlotte, and she turned back to wave to them, smiling.

"You were right, I do like your friends." She said to Seeley as they walked out of the Jeffersonian.

"Hmm, they might like you a bit too much." He muttered. She rolled her eyes.

"You haven't changed a bit. You know that, right?" She laughed, but he just looked stern.