No smut in this one. I kind of tried and it just would NOT happen, so I had to eventually just give in and let it be what it is. What can you do?
-b&b-
"Wow," Booth pressed on the brakes and tried not to skid along the loose gravel. "Now this is what you would call rain."
Brennan looked at him, a question in her expression. "It's what anyone would call rain, Booth. It IS rain."
He spared her a glance. "I know, it's…it's just an expression, Bones." He blew out a breath and shifted in his seat, clenching the steering wheel. "You know, like sort of the opposite of exaggeration? When someone de-exaggerates?"
She curled her lip up at him in disgust. "That's not a word."
His jaw tightened and he stared at her. "Really?"
Brennan wasn't sure if he was questioning her correction of him or if he didn't honestly know it was a word. She frowned and then noticed something from the corner of her eye. "Booth! Look out!"
He reacted, slamming on his brakes and skidding to a stop. There was a fallen log in the middle of the street that they barely missed running into and then they both heard a loud pop.
Booth and Brennan looked at one another and then Booth opened his door. When Brennan did the same, he froze. "What are you doing?"
She looked at him. "I'm going to help see what happened."
"No," he insisted. "It's raining. You can sit right there, and I'll do it. It's my SUV, and I'll do it!"
"It's the government's vehicle, Booth."
"Yeah, well…" his nose twitched and he scowled. "They sign my paychecks, so…it's still more mine than yours."
He didn't wait for a reply and got out, cursing immediately at the rain and wind that hit his face. Lifting up his trenchcoat, he shielded his face and neck and walked around to the back of the SUV. "Son of a bitch," he clenched his jaw. Sure enough, a flat tire. Another flat tire, he should say as he worked toward the back of the passenger side and noticed it was flat, too. "Great, just great."
"What's great?"
He looked up to see his partner standing next to him. "Jeez, Bones! I told you to stay put! It's pouring rain out here!"His coat was plastered to his body and he could feel water seeping into his shoes and up his pant legs.
"It's okay, Booth. I'm not going to melt."
His eyebrows rose. "Did you just make a joke, Bones? Because, I gotta say, I'm not really in the mood for the wicked witch of the west."
Her brow furrowed. "I don't know what that means,"
"Right," he nodded. "Of course not. You were just stating a fact"
"Precisely," she agreed. "Human skin does not dissolve in water."
He stared at her, in that exact moment wondering why he really put up with her. "You're unbelievable, you know that, Bones?"
"What?" she called after him as he turned and stormed toward the driver's side door. But when he opened it, he couldn't. It was locked.
"Get in, Bones," he demanded over the sound of the rain. "Get in and open my door. Hurry."
He could see through the tinted windows that she was standing outside her door. "It's locked,"
Booth shook his head, looking to the sky for guidance. Why? Why, why?
"Why is it locked, Bones?" he asked her, his voice more calm than he felt. "Hmmm?"
She shrugged a shoulder, and then they were standing on opposite sides of the SUV, staring at one another over the hood. "You don't know?" he asked. "I'll tell you. Because you didn't stay INSIDE where I TOLD you to!"
"You're not my superior, Booth," her chin tilted up, and he clenched his fists.
"Got it, Bones. Thanks for the reminder. I'll be sure to write that one down later."
"Maybe I didn't lock the doors," she challenged. "Maybe you did."
His mind immediately went to the possibility. It was habit to push the lock button when he got out. And he wasn't about to admit that he'd locked his keys in there once before. No, she didn't need to know that. "But…you were the last one in it. You were supposed to stay inside."
When she didn't reply, he knew he'd won. And if he wasn't getting completely drenched in the fucking middle of nowhere, he might have enjoyed it a little more. As it was, he was only just trying to figure out how much his suit had cost in combination with his coat and shirt and shoes. And socks. Damn it.
"Do you have your phone on you? We'll just call in for back up and make the most of it."
She nodded and held up her phone. Booth walked around the SUV and grabbed it from her hands, sliding it open and staring at it. "How the hell do you work this thing anyways?"
She grabbed it back and then pulled up the keypad. "Here,"
He pressed his tongue to the inside of his mouth and forced himself to be polite. "Thank you,"
Her eyebrows rose and it was clear to him that she wasn't buying his tone. He ignored her and the way her eyes seemed brighter in the dull gray rain surrounding them. "Yeah, this is Booth. Special Agent Booth," he clarified, tossing an incredulous look toward his partner. "Well, patch me through." He grunted and stared at the phone as if somehow it was responsible for him getting the new switchboard operator. "This is unbelievable," he grumbled, running his hand over his face. Water dripped over his head. "No," he cleared his throat and stood up straighter. "Not you, sir. I just meant…"
His eyes widened and Brennan watched him. "Sir, Dr. Brennan and I are stranded. Yeah, two flat tires and closed road." He looked up to the sky. "Fallen limbs. We're unharmed, but could use a tow truck."
He got the okay and closed the phone, handing it back to Brennan. "Can you look up our coordinates on that thing and email them to Cullen?"
Brennan nodded and did it, and then once she was done, they stared at one another.
"Now what?" Brennan asked before a huge clap of thunder rocked the sky above them. Booth blew out a breath and pressed his hands to his sides.
They looked around and then Brennan pointed. "Look, over there. I think there's a barn or something."
Booth lifted his hand to his eyes and peered. "Yeah, I think you're right. Wanna make a run for it?"
Brennan nodded. "Sure."
Booth hitched his coat over his head and ran beside his partner. Thankfully she was at least wearing her boots and was able to keep up. He tried not to think about mud and what else could be squishing under his shoes as they ran through the field. And when they got there, he halted. "You've got to be kidding me."
Brennan's eyes followed his and then she took the two steps needed to see what he was seeing. It was a barn alright, or at least, it had been. But now it was just half of a barn. As in the front and one side, but no real roof to speak of.
Booth shook his head, lifting his hands in annoyance. "Really?" he asked to no one in particular. And when he looked toward Brennan he saw that she was smiling at him. "This isn't funny, Bones." She was so infuriating! His mind continued to wonder why he really bothered with her sometimes.
She schooled her features and looked down, but didn't say anything.
"I mean it," he warned.
Her eyes met his again, and she tilted her head to the side, pointing to the barn. "I'm sorry, Booth. But…there is an element of humor to it."
His eyebrows rose and he stepped closer to her. "Which part? That we're stranded in the middle of nowhere? That it's pouring rain? That we're locked out of the SUV? That the only building in a 100 mile radius doesn't actually have a roof?" he pointed to the barn as well and spared a glance toward it.
His head tilted in disbelief as he stared at it, the complete preposterousness of their situation. And when he looked back to his partner, he saw her trying to hide a smile.
"Well," he cleared his throat, feeling his lips quirk up without his permission. "That part might actually be kind of funny."
And then…
She smiled. Standing in the pouring rain, as soaked as he was, just as stranded, just as locked out. And she smiled as the rain continued to fall around them. Her hair was matted to her head, her clothes skin tight to her body. Her eyes were wide, and she smiled.
Oh yeah, his body reminded him. That's why.
He chuckled and she smiled wider, and then he relaxed his shoulders and laughed again, smoothing a hand down his face. "So what next, Bones? What do you think?"
"Well," she walked toward the old barn. "I think that if we at least sort of sit along the edge, then the wall will kind of block the wind and rain from us till help arrives."
Booth pulled in breath and pointed. "Sounds good. Let's do this."
It was a bit drier near the wall, but still pretty damp and they were still getting rained on. Booth pulled off his trench coat and laid it on the ground. "We can at least sit on this."
They settled down onto it, Brennan with her legs in front of her and Booth with his knees near his chest and his arms wrapped around them. Their shoulders brushed a few times and then Booth looked over to see Brennan staring at him, a curious look on her face.
"What is it, Bones?"
She didn't exactly look away, but he sensed he'd interrupted her thoughts. "You're a very handsome man, Booth."
She was so matter of fact about it. He never quite knew how to react to her compliments. They always left him feeling very good but yet… "Um, thanks."
When she only shrugged, he knew that she'd only been 'stating a fact' as she liked to say. But this time he was curious, and hell, it wasn't like they had anywhere else to be. "What made you say that, Bones?"
Her brow furrowed and she examined his features. "It's hard to explain, specifically," she cautioned, and he hid a smile at her serious tone. "But…I don't know. Right now, your hair is wet and darker than normal. And your head is very nicely shaped. And you obviously maintain very good care of your body." A flicker of heat began at the back of his brain and zinged down his spine. "Mostly," she clarified, and then he had to laugh.
"But…" she frowned. "It's more than that. Even if I didn't know you, I'd still think you were very attractive."
Meaning what?, he wondered. That because she did know him, she found him even more attractive? Hmmm…
"Well, hell, Bones," he nudged her leg with his foot. "With compliments like that, I'd say you planned this whole thing."
"Whole thing?" she looked at him in surprise. "What are you talking about, Booth?"
He warmed up to the idea of teasing her. "Yep," he went on, as if she hadn't even spoken. "You orchestrated all of this so you could tell me how good looking I am."
"Booth," she stared at him, unamused. "That's highly irrational."
"I know," he insisted, hiding a smile. "But, you did it, Bones. Nice work," he teased. "Making that tree fall. You are the one who noticed it first after all. Very sly," he grinned when she huffed in disbelief. "Getting us stranded out here. Making it rain. Locking us out of the SUV so we'd have to huddle up here together."
"I did not…" she pursed her hips and gently punched his arm. "I did not make it rain. No one can do that."
"Ah HA!" he pointed at her and laughed. "So you DID lock us out on purpose. You wanted to seduce me in the rain, Bones."
She laughed and shook her head. "I did not, Booth." Their eyes met and held again and she looked away, fiddling with the buckle on her boot. "If I'd wanted to seduce you, you'd have known it right away."
"Ey yo, Bones!" Booth stared at her in disbelief. "Nice work on the comeback!"
"Thank you," she accepted graciously. "I've been working on them."
Working on comebacks? He wanted to ask if she was serious, but then an image of her sitting at her desk with flashcards, preparing replies to statements crossed his mind, and it was so easily embedded in his brain that he figured it might as well be true.
He didn't realize he was staring at her until she was looking at him, a question in her eyes. "What, Bones?" All this talk of seduction was making his thoughts as cloudy as the sky they were under. Thankfully, the rain was cold enough; it should do the trick, he figured in the back of his hazy mind. He watched as she smoothed her hair away from her face. It was drying slightly and not so much curling as just…getting kind of fuzzy.
She was smiling, but then she shook her head and looked away.
Oh… "Hey, come on now, Bones. I was just teasing. We're good?"
Brennan smiled to herself. "Of course, Booth. I was just thinking about something."
He waited for her to elaborate, and when she didn't he nudged her shoulder with his. "Well, now I've got to know."
His eyes were pinned to her face as he watched her, and then she seemed to take a deep breath. "I guess I was just thinking that a normal woman probably would have taken the opportunity to seduce you."
"Normal," he repeated, desperately trying to keep up with her and somehow reconcile her words with her tone of voice. What she was saying was the kind of stuff in his fantasies. How she sounded was the way she did when she absolutely tore him to shreds. "Bones, you are not normal."
The look she gave him proved he had messed up. "No, I mean…you're just…"
"Abnormal?" she offered.
"Extraordinary," he countered. When she didn't reply, he tapped her chin with his index finger. "Hey, I mean that. Hell, Bones, look at this situation. We get locked out, get two flat tires, we're stranded, and you're the one who stays calm when I was upset."
"You were more than upset, Booth" she clarified, her tone indicating the truth was paramount.
"Yeah, yeah," he groaned. "But see…most other women, they'd complain. Not you. You found us a place to sit. And…you made me laugh."
Her eyes flickered with some undefinable emotion at that. So he grinned and leaned closer, "Yeah?" he wheedled, trying to get her to smile. "Come on, Bones…turn that frown upside down."
Brennan rolled her eyes, but then looked away before tilting her head in his direction and smiling despite herself.
"Yeah, that's right."
She laughed and he did too. And then he couldn't help it. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against her lips.
Her eyes focused on his mouth as he pulled away and he could barely breathe from her sweet expression.
"Are you seducing me now, Booth?" she asked, her voice husky.
"Nope," he replied, noticing that she seemed a bit disappointed. "I'm just responding to your seduction."
Her eyebrows lifted, but when he leaned in again, she did the same and they kissed, soft and sweet in the rain.
"I didn't seduce you," she countered with a whisper, her eyes searching his face.
"Oh yeah," he kissed her again. "You did, Bones. You definitely did. You always do. Everything about you. Everything around you"
She blushed and smiled then shook her head disbelievingly. "Even this mud?"
"Ah," he laughed and kissed her, enjoying the way her hand cupped the back of his head. "Good one, Bones."
He cupped her back and lowered her onto his coat, kissing a line against her throat.
"Let me get this straight," she panted, her hands moving his jacket aside so she could cup his shoulders through his shirt. "This is me seducing you?"
Booth smiled down at her, and then he laughed. "Yeah, Bones. I just can't help myself when you're so aggressive."
They kissed more until they heard the honking of the tow truck driver. Booth grumbled and stood up, offering his hand to Brennan. She accepted and then stood up. They smiled as they walked to the tow truck. And as they rode back into the city, Booth kept his arm wrapped around her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. And they smiled...
-b&b-