(The Girl in the Fridge)

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I don't own Bones.

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While she had worked for Michael Stires as his intern, Brennan had felt that she had learned a lot from him and after careful consideration, she had had an affair with him. He had been her first lover and she had appreciated his 'matter of fact' manner while she learned the art of making love. He had been a considerate lover, or at least she had thought so at the time and she had enjoyed the relationship very much. When she had graduated with her doctorate, she had proudly assumed her position at the Jeffersonian and she had lost contact with Michael. It had been expected. She wasn't a student anymore and she had responsibilities that made it easy for her to forget her professor.

Much to her regret, she didn't make friends easily. The fact was she rarely made friends at all. Brennan didn't understand the nuances of social interaction and she knew that she didn't understand the subtle emotions that went with most friendships. It's not that she didn't care because she did. She just didn't seem to be able to interpret silent communication. Body language was often times a mystery to her and it frustrated her. Also, the fact that most people she knew weren't very truthful made it hard to attach to anyone since she abhorred lying. She didn't understand why everyone couldn't just be honest and forthright. Sometimes she feared she would live her life alone and isolated.

The most disappointing thing about her life so far was the fact that she thought of herself as a caring person, but most people she interacted with considered her cold and unfeeling. The dichotomies were so frustrating and she didn't know how to solve the problem. Her first real friend had been Angela Montenegro. Angela was an artist and she spoke her mind whether you were ready to hear it or not. Brennan used Angela as a sounding board when she had questions about human interaction and what was considered normal social behavior. Brennan was not normal, in fact she was extraordinary and that isolated her from most human contact.

She had learned quite a bit about how to behave in social settings from her friend and she had thought she was doing quite well until she met Seeley Booth. He had shown her that social interaction was even more subtle than she had first thought. Communicating with people outside the Lab turned out to be more complicated than she had thought and she started to rely upon her partner to explain the nuances of everyday speech with people they came in contact with. Sometimes the whole thing was very frustrating and she feared that she would always be on the outside looking in. She wasn't sure if it was because she had lost her ability to love and trust or not. Her parents had abandoned her at the age of 15 and she had been forced into Foster Care when her beloved brother didn't want her anymore. She had reasoned that love had an expiration date and to not trust that particular emotion when dealing with anyone. Instead, she relied on trust. If she couldn't trust someone then they were not allowed to become her friend. Her circle of friends was tiny and she had appreciated it when she realized that Booth was her friend and he was someone she could count on. He brought a new insight into the world around her and she tried to use his advice when it came to dealing with people she didn't understand. She trusted him.

Then he did something that she considered a betrayal and she feared that would be the end of their friendship.

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He had apologized more than once and he had explained why he had given her personal information to the prosecutor at least three times, but she was still angry and he knew it. "Bones, Michael Stires sat in that witness box and tried to portray you as cold and robotic. He was trying to use your professionalism against you and the jury was buying it. Juries can be persuaded when they don't understand what's going on and they didn't know what was going on. He was charming them and he was winning. The Costellos were going to get away with torture and murder. I couldn't let that happen. I just couldn't."

She stirred her coffee and thought about what he had said. She had partially forgiven him earlier that evening when they were at the crime scene, but she still needed to think about it. She had to decide if she could trust Booth. "I'm not cold and unfeeling."

"Of course you aren't and Stires knows that. He was lying his ass off in the courtroom." Booth really hated Professor Michael Stires. He considered the professor a user and he hoped Brennan realized that now. She shouldn't trust him, ever. "He was paid to get the Costellos off. He couldn't use the facts, so he decided to use you instead. He was mocking you in court and trying to make you seem like you didn't care that people were involved in the case. He wanted the court to see Mr. Spock and it was wrong and it was working."

"I don't know what that means." She hated it when her partner used colloquiums. She rarely watched television or movies, so his slang went over her head most of the time.

He knew he needed to stop using television characters as examples when he talked to his partner, but it surprised him when she didn't even know about characters like Mr. Spock. He thought everyone had seen at least one Star Trek television episode or movie. "It means he was trying to portray you like a human computer, cold and unfeeling. Michael Stires was using you and I couldn't let him do that. He's not your friend."

"But you were using me by giving my personal story to the prosecutor." That was the problem. Was what he did any worse than what Michael had done? "I trusted you. You're supposed to be my partner."

Frustrated with himself as well as his partner, Booth sighed. "Look I apologized for doing what I did, but I did it to protect you and to make the jury see that Stires was using you . . . look never mind why I did it. You don't care about that, I get it." He looked directly at her and tried to be as contrite as he could be. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let you down. I'll try not to ever do that again. I'm your partner and your friend and you should be able to trust me." He didn't have anything else to say. Either she would forgive him or she wouldn't.

Staring at her cup of coffee, she thought about the trial, about Michael Stires and about Booth. Michael had used her in an egregious manner. They had been lovers in the past and colleagues and yet he had treated her as if she were the enemy and maybe she was. He had led the jury to believe she was heartless and cold and it hurt that he would do that to her. Booth was also her colleague and he had tried to protect her by having the prosecutor bring up her past to show that she was human, that she had feelings and that she cared about the victim. Her partner wanted the jury to know she was not cold and heartless. He had used her, but for completely different reasons.

"I do trust you, Booth." Trust was so important to her and perhaps his tactics were not as egregious as Michael's had been. "You wanted to win and in your way, you were trying to protect my reputation. I didn't need your protection, but I understand why you did it."

"Do you forgive me?" He hoped she did. He liked Brennan a lot and he thought of her as a friend he could count on. She was certainly the best partner he had ever had. "I won't ever tell anyone personal information about you without your permission. I promise."

She thought about it for a few seconds and smiled. "You are forgiven, but I will not be in a forgiving mood if you ever do this to me again."

Relieved, Booth nodded his head. "Got it."

"Good."

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