I realized I lied in my chapter one disclaimer…I actually own a poster, the first two seasons of "Bones" on DVD, a t-shirt, and two really cool coffee mugs (a Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab one and one that's got the show's logo on it). That's all I own of "Bones". I swear.
Just a Matter of Physics – Chapter II
The next morning was bright and crisp. Spring was definitely here, but there was still an occasional nip to the morning air. Brennan walked briskly from her car to the Jeffersonian, watching her breath make little puffs in the chilly air. Chilly didn't even begin to describe the mood that had descended last night after Sully's surprise arrival.
Apparently, the FBI had called him in as a consultant on a case they were working on out of a separate division. They'd needed his profiling skills and he'd agreed to come in. He figured he'd be around for four to six weeks; wasn't that great?
As Brennan reached the door and swiped her ID card, she again ran through the rest of last night. After chatting for a little while, it was obvious that Sully wanted to pick up from where they had left off. He'd given her a hug and a kiss, albeit on the cheek, and moved over to give her room to sit. Booth immediately sat on her other side and they'd both stretched their arms on the back of the booth seat behind her. Cam had suddenly been taken with a fit of laughter and had excused herself. Upon seeing her friend's discomfiture, Angela excused herself to go to the bathroom, taking Brennan with her.
When they'd returned from the restroom, Booth was standing up to put his jacket on. She'd stopped and looked at him, not sure what she was supposed to do now. What exasperated her even more was that Sully had stood up as well. Booth looked at her and pointedly told her he was going home. Sully looked at her and then handed her a piece of paper, telling her (and everyone else) that he was staying at the Hampton Inn and here was a number she could reach him at. Then, after the very male challenge, both turned and left. Angela had started to say something, but Brennan put her coat on and told her friend she'd see her in the morning. As she left, she heard Angela asking Jack what had happened while they were gone and heard him reply, "You're not going to believe this."
As she got to her office, Brennan set her bag on a chair and tossed her keys onto her desk. She wanted coffee and needed to find Angela. Making her way to the little kitchenette to get her coffee, she saw Angela already pouring two cups.
"Good morning."
Angela turned and raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. Is it? You tell me." She handed the second cup of coffee to Brennan and leaned against the counter.
"If you're fishing for what I did last night, don't bother. I went home," Brennan replied.
Angela looked at her friend for a few moments. "So--what do you think?" I mean--how do you feel about all of this?"
Brennan took a sip of her coffee. "What I think is they're both acting like teenagers--or, as you put it last night, Neanderthals--I'm not sure which is a better description."
"Sweetie, you don't know the half of it. After you left, Jack filled me in on what happened while we were gone. You want to talk about 'Alpha-Male tendencies'? Apparently, Booth interrogated Sully: asked him things like where's he been, what's he been doing, why he couldn't have called you or at least sent you a postcard. Then he launched into a whole sermon about him leaving you and didn't he realize what that did to you? Then Sully was like, 'So are you telling me you finally got your head out of your ass and are seeing Tempe'?" Here, Angela paused for effect. "Do you know what Booth said? 'I don't see how any of this is your business. You gave up your rights to ask questions when you left her!'"
Brennan sighed. "This is ridiculous. What am I supposed to do about this? I mean--well, you saw how Booth was acting last night."
The two friends made their way back to Brennan's office. Angela sat in a chair as Brennan sat on the couch, leaning back into the cushions. "I don't like this. This is exactly why humans should just forego all the dictates placed on them by society to curb healthy sexual appetites."
Angela raised her eyebrow again. "Bren, are you trying to tell me that you're interested in them both?"
Brennan sighed again. "I don't know, Ange. I mean I used to feel differently about Sully. I think I started to trust him just when he decided to leave. It's like every time I let myself care about someone, they disappear. My parents, my brother, the few relationships I've had--they all leave."
"But your father and brother both came back. And what about Booth?" Angela persisted.
Brennan put her cup down and ran her hand through her hair at the question. Yes, what about Booth? Add more confusion to this mess. What had started to happen last night was undeniably real. She couldn't pretend it hadn't happened. There had been more than flirting last night and had she actually agreed to leave with him? What would have happened if Sully hadn't arrived?
"Bren? What happened on the dance floor last night?" Angela asked quietly, not in her normal, "I've-got-to-know" way.
"I'm not really sure. One minute we were dancing and the next we were getting ready to leave."
"Ready to leave? Like as in 'together'? As in 'let's go back to my place'?" Angela's voice rose in pitch a little.
"I think so. But I could be wrong about that. I know we flirted and kind of crossed a line," Brennan started.
"Sweetie, it would have been odd if you hadn't flirted! Good Lord, the sexual tension between you two is enough to mess up Air Traffic Control's instruments all over the DC area!"
"He's the one who drew the line in the first place. I respected his decision. But he's the one who changed his mind last night. Whatever the situation, I'm not sure exactly what he had in mind last night. He could have just wanted pie at the diner," Brennan tried to rationalize.
"Oh, he was probably thinking of something sweet with whipped cream all right, but I doubt it was pie. Not the way you two were dancing. Not to mention the whole pool-playing lesson! God, I think everyone in the group was turned on by that little trick!" Angela quipped.
"Well, I'm trying to put them both out of my mind. I've got to get four more chapters of my new book done by Monday." Here, Brennan stood up and went to her desk, turning her computer on.
Angela stood up and took both Brennan's and her coffee cups. "I don't think you're going to be able to put either one out of your mind for very long. You have to know they'll be coming around any minute now. Good luck on your book."
As Angela left, Brennan sighed and stared after her friend for a while. She had the feeling Angela was right. Sighing, she focused on her computer screen, opening her document and starting to read over what she had written the other day. She couldn't force her mind to cooperate, though, and she found herself going back to last night yet again. At this rate, she'd be finishing her book some time next year! She sat back in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose, blowing out yet another sigh.
"Long night?" came a questioning voice from her door.
Looking up, Brennan saw Sully leaning against the doorway, hands in his pockets, a look somewhere between a smile and a grimace on his face.
"Yes, it was," she replied, leaning forward in her chair again.
"I see," Sully nodded, not really "seeing" at all. "Can I come in?"
"Sure. How's your case coming?" she asked, picking up a pen and tapping it on her blotter.
"I'm actually headed in right now. I just wanted to stop by and see what you were up to. I was disappointed that I didn't hear from you last night," Sully supplied, sitting down in a chair on the other side of her desk.
"Sorry, but it was late and I knew I had to be in early today." She was a little irritated. He'd left her--made his decision. Did he think he could just come back into her life for a few weeks and pick up from where they'd left off? Maybe if they'd only had a physical relationship, it would be different. But she'd begun to allow herself to feel more for him and he'd left her: like everyone else in her life seemed to do.
"So you went home then?" Sully asked, his voice raising in hope.
Before Brennan could say anything, Booth appeared at her door. When she saw him, her stomach tightened and flipped a little: something that hadn't happened when Sully appeared. Her eyes met his and for the briefest moment she saw a flicker of what she'd seen last night. But as his eyes left hers and lighted on Sully, they hardened and his posture stiffened.
"Bones, we've got a case," he said curtly.
Sully turned to look at Booth. "Morning, Booth."
Booth nodded once. "Morning." He turned and looked back at his partner. "So, are you up to going out in the field today?"
Brennan's excitement at seeing him turned sour. The implication wasn't lost on her. This male posturing was going to get old real fast! Instead of answering him, she stood up and went to her closet to retrieve her field bag. As she moved passed Sully, she said, "Sorry. Guess we'll have to continue this conversation later."
As she started to follow Booth, Sully spoke out. "Hey, Temperance--how about dinner tonight?"
She saw the subtle shift in Booth's posture and decided she could play his game, too. "Sure. Stop by later and I'll be able to give you an idea of what time would be good."
They spent the trip out to the wooded area on the outskirts of Arlington in complete silence. After Booth had filled her in on what he knew, he shut up tighter than a clam and Brennan gave up trying to speak to him. She knew he was stewing about Sully but she decided there was no way she was going to offer up any information.
The crime scene was already heavy with police, FBI, and reporters. A couple from Massachusetts had been hiking when they'd literally stumbled across the limbless torso of the victim. The police had called in the FBI when they'd discovered an arm and leg roughly thirty yards in either direction from the body.
"These remains are still too fleshy for me to do anything but a cursory exam here." Brennan was kneeling down, examining the torso. "We've got to get everything back to the lab. All I can ascertain is the victim is male, probably mid-twenties to mid-thirties and, from the surrounding area by the torso, it appears he was dismembered here." Brennan looked up at Booth. "I'm done here."
Booth nodded, grimacing as he looked again at the torso. "Go get cleaned up, Bones. I'll get them to bag everything." His voice was more compassionate than earlier. This had been one of the more gruesome sites they'd come across.
In the car on the way back, Booth found himself dwelling again on the whole Sully issue. To make matters worse, she was going out to dinner with him tonight. Why was she willing to set herself up to be hurt again? The more he thought about how she was allowing Sully back into her life, the more he got angry. She didn't deserve to be treated like this.
Brennan noticed Booth's hands gripping the wheel tightly and saw the muscle in his jaw twitching. Something was beginning to bother him: and she was pretty sure it was Sully. She sighed. "What?"
Booth spared a quick glance her way. "What, what?"
"What's bothering you?" she clarified.
"Nothing. I'm fine."
"You're not fine," she countered.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because you have a death grip on the steering wheel, you're making very short comments, and you're clenching your jaws so tightly I think you're going to need a crowbar to pry them apart." Brennan was getting irked. She'd gone for a long time with no boyfriend and now, suddenly that Sully was back, Booth started acting like she wasn't allowed to have a love life. It wasn't that she necessarily wanted Sully, but it was the idea that Booth preferred to keep her in some kind of sexless limbo.
"So now you're an expert on reading people?" Booth retorted.
"No, but I think I'm pretty good at picking up on some of your body language."
"So if you're so good at it, what's it telling you besides I'm 'not fine'?"
"You know what it's telling me, Booth? It's telling me you're acting like you're jealous." There. She'd said it.
"Jealous?! Of that twerp?! Hardly!" He laughed, taking the turn into the Jeffersonian lot a bit too hard, causing the tires to squeal a little bit.
Brennan braced her arm on the door. "And that little show is a typical manifestation of your Alpha Male tendency to exhibit anger and frustration."
The SUV came to a halt and Booth got out, slamming the door. Brennan slipped out and slammed her door as well.
"You think you know everything, don't you, Bones? Well, you don't. I'm not jealous. Far from it. If you want to fall back into bed with the guy who literally sailed off into the sunset without you, then by all means, go right ahead!" Booth swiped his ID card and the two of them stalked into the Jeffersonian's lab.
"It wasn't sunset when he left!" Brennan was getting angrier by the minute.
"Sure, comment on that part!" Booth exclaimed back, swiping his way through to the wing where she worked.
"What's that mean?" she asked, fuming.
"I noticed you didn't deny anything about 'falling into bed' with him. Is that how you spent your night last night?!" It was out before he could stop it and he grimaced as soon as he said it.
She stopped short, icy blue eyes shooting into his like two lasers. "What I did last night, where I was, and with whom, is none of your damn business! It's been almost a year since I've dated anyone and you haven't shown the faintest interest in my love life. Now, someone's interested in me and you suddenly have issues. You know what that tells me? You only want what you can't have!" These last words were said quietly and with venom, but not quietly enough in a large room with high ceilings and nothing to absorb sound.
"Well, I certainly wouldn't want to expect what I can't have…think you can still examine the remains and make it to your date tonight?" Booth stepped closer to her, a tactic he normally used when he was trying to intimidate someone. Why he did it then, he wasn't sure. But it certainly didn't intimidate Brennan. She upped the game, stepping even closer to him.
They were nearly touching at this point when she replied, "Oh, the remains will be examined and I will make my date. What will you be doing tonight, Booth? Wondering what I'm doing?"
They stared at each other for a few moments. Brennan couldn't quite believe what had just come out of her mouth, but she was even more shocked at the emotions which flashed in Booth's eyes. Anger, hurt, and then that dangerous look settled in as something smoldered behind his eyes. In a whispered reply he said, "Whatever you'll be doing tonight won't be the same if you're not with me."
She spun on her heel and stalked off to her office, boot heels echoing loudly in the very quiet lab.
Booth stood seething for a few moments, staring after her as she left. Then someone coughed lightly and he looked up to see Jack, Angela, Cam, and even a few of the technicians standing and staring. Angela's mouth was open and Jack's eyes were wide.
"Um, Booth? I need to talk to you about some preliminary information on the remains you just brought in," Cam broke the tense silence.
"Fine. Want to head to your office?" Booth replied, smoothing his tie.
As he followed Cam, Hodgins turned to look at the rest of the stunned audience. "Did everyone else just see that or did I slip into some kind of alternate universe for five minutes?"
Angela blinked a few time and finally managed to close her mouth. "I didn't know if she was going to deck him or kiss him! This isn't good for anyone's blood pressure. Their tensions alone is sending everyone else's libidos into overdrive. I've got to talk to Bren."