A/N: So, my wonderful summer plans have been thwarted by big storm dropping a rather large tree through my kitchen wall. So, I'm home and dealing with wank-tard contractors who don't seem to understand the inconvenience of having a giant hole in my house. So, if i write a contractor into this story and write him being killed off in some horrible fashion, that's why. Sigh. Oh well. Life is always interesting. I guess I'm in this story for the long run. Not too long, but the long run none-the-less. Sorry for venting, but updates should be regular. Ciao. XO.
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Chapter Two...
Booth sat behind the desk in his office. He was bored. His morning training session had been interesting, but he had no other commitments until the next day. He had been appointed by Deputy Director Cullen to the Training and Development division of the FBI. Cullen was pretty sure the transfer was only temporary, but he had granted the man's request to no longer be involved in any case that might involve the crew from the Jeffersonian.
Cullen had really hoped that Booth and Brennan would solve whatever problems had come between them. He had never met a couple so obviously meant for each other, and he wondered exactly what had happened to split them up. He had only heard rumours, but Booth would neither confirm nor deny any of them to him. He was very politely told that it was none of his business, with all due respect. Cullen had stopped asking, but he kept Booth's position open with the Homicide Division. Just in case.
Now Booth sat, trying to do paperwork, but his mind kept wandering. His thoughts went back to the training session that morning, where he had been showing the wet-nosed newbies the ropes of being with the FBI. There were twelve young, alpha-males, cocky as hell and optimistic about their futures. Booth had liked them all immediately.
He was pretending to read over a file when he heard a light knocking on his door. He looked up to see Doctor Sweets seeking permission to enter. He waved the man in, and set the file down.
He didn't associate much with Sweets anymore, at least not much since he and Bones had come back to DC after the Gravedigger had kept them on the run for almost two years. The friendship they had started to form all those years ago had faded. In fact, Booth couldn't remember if they had even spoken since Sully's trial. He didn't think so. They hadn't even invited him to their almost-wedding. The guest list had been very small, and even now he remembered the pity in everyone's eyes when it became obvious that she wasn't going to show. The scar was still fresh.
"Good afternoon Agent Booth. Are you busy?" Sweets made a gesture towards the empty seat across from his desk, asking if he could sit. Booth nodded, giving him permission.
"No Sweets. Not really. What brings you by?" He tried to hide the graphic novel he had actually been reading that was tucked inside the file, but Sweets' quick eye caught the action and he grinned.
"What are you reading there?"
"Uh, it's just a story I picked up for Parker. You know, just making sure the content is suitable for him." Booth flushed slightly, embarrassed to have been caught reading the subject matter he had.
"I know what it is, but which comic is that? Justice League? Superman?" Sweets really wanted to know.
"It's uh, The Green Lantern. It's a pretty good one."
"Ah, the Green Lantern...that is a good one."
Booth was surprised that Sweets was familiar with the novel.
"In the brightest day, in the blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight... Let those who worshipped evil's might...Beware my power..." Sweets started the Green Lantern's quote and Booth finished it,
"...Green Lantern's light. Ha-ha, that's awesome that you know that. That's a true fan. Well... a true Hal Jordan fan anyway! There is debate over whether or not he was the best 'Green Lantern'. I had no idea you were a comic book geek, though I guess I should have known. You seem like the type who would appreciate them." Booth smiled, happy to have someone talk about anything other than the troubles between him and Bones.
Sweets smiled too. He had used a classic psychological approach to relax the man and make him comfortable. He had found a common interest, and wondered how to approach the topic he had really stopped by to discuss. Booth was clever and would see through him if he jumped right in to it, so he made more small talk.
"How is Parker? Is he still in Florida?" He watched the man's smile fade slightly.
"Yeah, but he's flying in this weekend to spend a week with me. I am definitely looking forward to it. Me and the kids are going to pick him up at the airport Friday night, after the nanny drops them off at my place."
Sweets knew the subject was close to being broached, but he still treaded carefully. He would be patient, and wait for Booth to say her name first. Wait for him to bring up the subject. He kept the conversation on the periphery of his goal.
"Do you have Payton and Rio every weekend?" Sweets knew the answer, but that was another psychological technique. Only ask the questions you know the answer to and keep the patient talking about him or herself. Not that Booth was his patient, but the technique worked.
"Yeah, that's one thing Bones and I had actually agreed on. She promised to never deny me access to our kids. I have them every weekend, and she has them during the week. That way the nanny only has to work five days a week. It's a pretty good arrangement."
Her name had been spoken. Sweets decided to push his luck.
"So... are you two talking at all right now?"
Booth immediately tried to divert the conversation away from the topic he was starting to suspect Sweets really wanted to discuss.
"Me and the nanny? Yeah, we talk all the time. Every Friday and every Sunday night, when we make the exchange." Booth looked at Sweets, his face perfectly neutral.
"You know that's not what I meant, but I'll clarify. Are you and Doctor Brennan speaking at all?"
Booth sat quietly for a moment, unsure whether or not to actually discuss the subject that tortured his soul every minute of his waking day. He decided that he could use a friend about now. Sweets could be very useful at times, if his memory served him correctly. Maybe he would have some advice worth listening to.
"No. We haven't actually spoken in two months, fourteen days," He looked at his watch, "eleven hours, and about twelve minutes."
"Why not?"
"Because all we did was fight and argue. There was nothing left to say." Booth looked sad.
"All you guys ever did was argue; it was one of the things that intrigued me into learning more about how you guys functioned so well together. It was like, what the first four chapters of my book were about." Sweets watched the man carefully, wondering how much Booth would be willing to open up about.
"I never actually read your book, I have to be honest." Booth, again, tried to steer the conversation away from the topic everyone wanted to discuss. Sweets saw the diversion attempt from a mile away, but he refrained from talking about himself.
"Booth, I am also going to be honest. I want to help you and Doctor Brennan resolve whatever it was that happened between you. I am offering my services to you." He decided to throw the issue in Booth's face and see where it went from there.
Booth was silent for a moment. He looked suspicious.
"Why? What's in it for you?"
"There is no benefit to me except to help two friends who desperately need my expertise pertaining to matters of the heart. Though I have to admit, some of the other FBI psychologists are mocking me as to how wrong I was about you guys. I want to redeem myself in their eyes. But most importantly, I want you two to be happy. You're both miserable right now."
"How do you know she's miserable?" Booth had a glimmer of hope in his eyes that Sweets caught instantly. If she was as miserable as he was, maybe there was a chance for them.
"Because Angela called me yesterday to ask if I would intervene, but I wanted to come and see how you felt about the situation first." Sweets crossed his legs and put one hand under his chin with his finger pressed into his cheek and tried to look professional and mature. This was the moment where Booth would accept his help, or not.
"Is Angela actually talking to you again? You know, after the whole Zack thing. The Squints were pretty pissed at you." A small smile crept across the Agent's face as he remembered some of the colourful things that Angela and Hodgins had said about the young Doctor.
"Not really, but she is very worried about Doctor Brennan. She wants more than anything to see you guys back together. She asked me for my help, and now I am offering it to you. What do you say? Will you let me help you?" He uncrossed his legs and crossed them again.
Booth stared at him while he considered his options in his head. He admitted that he couldn't do this by himself. He didn't know how to start the dialogue that would lead to the chance to apologize for acting the way he had. And, if she was miserable to the point that Angela was worried, then maybe she was ready to apologize too. Of course Angela would be worried about Bones. She was carrying her baby. Booth was sure that was not the only reason for Angela's concern. He truly liked the artist and she had been Bones' best friend and confidant since before he had even met the woman who he was so madly in love with still.
He regretted now more than ever alienating the Squints. He could have used their help, but he had pushed them away. Just as Bones had pushed him away. And he had let her. How could he have been so stupid? Maybe Sweets could help bail him out of this one.
Doctor Sweets watched as an obvious spectrum of emotions played across the man's face. Sweets knew what his answer would be before he said it out loud.
"Yes. I need your help."
Sweets smiled a huge smile that made him look temporarily younger. He caught himself, and tried to look professional again. He shifted his face to his other hand and looked carefully at Booth.
"I'm glad to hear you say that. That's a huge first step."
"There's one condition though Sweets." Booth had no hint of a smile now. He meant business.
"What's that?" He had seen foreseen the bargaining from Booth. He wondered what the request would be.
"I don't want all of our business to end up in your next book. This is between the three of us okay? A little discretion would be appreciated."
Sweets nodded agreement. He wondered why Booth would want so much discretion about this when Doctor Brenan so obviously wrote about their sex life in her last book. Some of those scenes had been very descriptive and it was obviously semi-biopic, but he agreed to Booth's term. He really only wanted to help his friends. They deserved to be happy together. As a family.
"Okay Agent Booth, I'll need some background info. Do you want to get started right now?"
Booth had nowhere to be. Now seemed like a good a time as any. He thought of something else.
"One more thing..." he waited while the young man across from him nodded, "Can you not be all super psychological with us? Bones would hate that. Can you do this as our friend? Not as a shrink?"
"Absolutely. You have my word. As a friend. Now, why don't you tell me where things started to go wrong?"
Booth rested his chin on his hands, leaning forward on his desk. He thought for a few moments.
"Well, I think it was during Sully's trial. That's where I first noticed she was getting a little distant. She started staying late at the lab, doing menial jobs. It seemed to me like she was avoiding me, but she never said anything. She came home late at night, after the kids and I had gone to bed, and she left for the trial early in the morning, before I woke up." He watched Sweets doing a mental evaluation of his words, and paused when the man seemed to come to some sort of conclusion already. He stayed silent, waiting for Sweets to speak.
"How did this make you feel?"
"How do you think it made me feel?" Booth turned the question right back at him, and Sweets smiled at his defensive coping mechanism.
"Okay. I think it made you feel unappreciated, and perhaps a little unwanted. You need to be needed, and Doctor Brennan chose to deal with her emotional reactions to the situation by herself."
"What emotional reactions would those be?"
"Think about it Booth. You guys suffered the ultimate form of betrayal when it was being proven before your eyes in that court room that someone who claimed to be your friend, someone who had claimed to on your side, was in fact the very one who was trying to kill you. That's not an easy thing to deal with. Especially for someone like Doctor Brennan, who had been betrayed before by people who were close to her. I think she was emotionally detaching herself from you, in order to save you the hurt of feeling her pain too. You are very empathic."
Booth thought about what the Doctor said. It kind of made sense. She was trying to spare him the pain of her pain. He hadn't considered that before. He looked Sweets in the eyes.
"There was also the little incident where she bailed on our wedding. She had seemed happy about it, but then... we decided on a small, simple ceremony and she just didn't show up. The only explanation she would give was that she wasn't ready." The memory brought tears to the man's eyes, which he stifled quickly. He wasn't quite ready to let Sweets see how much that had really affected him. Sweets saw.
"Is getting married that important to you? Does it mean everything to you? Can you understand that maybe what she wants is important too? I mean, she has always made her feelings on matrimony pretty clear." Sweets tested some boundaries with his line of questioning.
"But Sweets, why is what she wants the only important thing? Shouldn't my wants be considered too? Why should it be all about what she wants?"
"Did you guys talk about it?" Sweets diffused the tension for a minute, giving him some time to think about how to take the revelations that Booth was revealing to him. This was deep.
"We tried, but I was hurting, and I snapped at her a lot. I can admit that I handled things badly, but she refused to see things my way. It's like we're total opposites sometimes."
Sweets smiled, remembering a long-ago conversation with Doctor Gordon Wyatt.
"You're not so opposite as you think Agent Booth."
Booth didn't know what he meant exactly. He sighed. As much as it hurt to talk about what had happened, it felt good to be getting a few things off his chest without being persecuted. Sweets had done a good job so far of not being judgemental.
They had a long way to go.
But, he was willing to try if she was. He really hoped she was.
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TBC...
Thanks D. for your Graphic Novel help. Loves my geek. XO
