A/N: Season 7. This takes place after "The Bump in the Road" where Finn starts dating Michelle.

It was only 630 and Seeley Booth had already had a busy day. He'd given up on sleep after Christine started crying close to dawn. Bones had told him to get lost - she and the baby would nap after feeding. So he headed into the Hoover, did a sunrise run along The Mall, followed by a weight session in the FBI gym. After a shower he was starving and had time for breakfast before the first staff meeting of the day, so he headed to the Royal Diner.

At the counter, Finn Abernathy was nursing a cup of coffee while reading, his ride into the city had a scheduling conflict so he was killing time till he had to get to the lab. Seeing the empty seat next to the squint, Booth approached "Hey Finn, mind if I sit down."

"No Sir Agent Booth." Inwardly he was groaning though, in general he and law enforcement had not been the best of friends. But even if he had been a boy scout growing up, he would have found Dr. Brennan's partner intimidating. The FBI man was physically imposing plus had a glare that could freeze a creek in July.

Booth flipped his cup over for the waitress to fill. "You can drop the agent and the sir, and just call me Booth. Have you had breakfast?"

"No s.." He stopped himself before the sir came out. "Not hungry this mornin". That was a bit of a lie, but he was saving his money for his date tonight.

"You sure? I'm buying. I remember poor student days."

"Well, then, much obliged." The waitress came and they placed their orders.

Booth took the opportunity to study the young man next to him.

Finn didn't crack under the scrutiny, earning a point in the agents book. Finally deciding to let the squint off the hook, Booth asked "So how's the Jeffersonian treating you? I have to tell you, Bones has been impressed by your work so far and that doesn't happen very often. Some days I think she's still waiting for me to impress her."

"Well, we've had a few bumps in the road, but I reckon things are going alright now. I feel like I'm in high cotton getting to work at the Jeffersonian and with the brilliance there. Never would have dreamed it as sprout."

"And how is Michelle? You know, I knew her back in pre-school. Cam and I have been friends for a long time. She's my niece." He kept his expression bland, but his tone was deadly. Booth watched the intern squirm.

"Uh. She's great. I'm introducing her to Blue Grass, and she's showing me around town."

"That's nice." Booth smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. His gaze remained steady on the intern.

Finn sighed, recognizing yet another round of his misspent youth about to bite him in the ass.

"Sir, as I told Dr. Saroyan, I have in the past been on the wrong side of the law, but I assure you I currently walk the straight and narrow and where Michelle is concerned I will do right by her." He looked Booth straight in the eye.

The two stared at each other for a while. Finally Booth chuckled and blinked. "So, you've stared down me, stood up to Cam and haven't annoyed Bones. Michelle could do worse."

Their breakfasts arrived. Satisfied, Booth turned the topic to sports and discovered approvingly that Finn was well acquainted with hockey although a Carolina Hurricanes fan. He was quite pleased to find another squint who could at least fake normal. Booth was enjoying the food and the conversation. Finn was trying to, but kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

They finished up, Booth paid the bill and stood. "Gotta run. Have a good one." Finally Finn cracked. "That's it?" he asked. "You're not going to ask me about my step dad?"

"Nope. I looked at your record - don't feel singled out, I do it on all the squinterns. Bones told me that you bluffed your stepfather into disappearing. I know what it's like to want someone to never darken your door again. Particularly when you're watching the bastard beat up on your mother."

Finn was stunned. Though the tone was without emotion, he had no doubt that Booth was speaking from personal experience. He merely nodded. "Thanks for breakfast." he called to the agents back. Booth waved in acknowledgement and left. Finn glanced at his watch and realized he still had some time to kill before he had to get to work, so he had another refill of coffee.

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It had been a busy day. A skeleton had been found in a shallow grave, but it was determined that it had been there for 30 years, and there had been no determination of foul play yet. So, the sense of urgency wasn't too great, Booth figured he and Bones could still take off and make their date night. Max had volunteered to watch Christine and Booth was looking forward to the evening.

As he entered the lab he saw Bones, Hodgins and Finn on the platform engaged in scientific discussion over the bones. They still had time before their dinner reservation so he figured he could give them 15 minutes to wrap up. He headed up to the lounge.

Michelle was sitting there, cup of coffee in hand. "Hey Uncle Booth" She gave him a quick hug.

"Hey Michelle... you getting stood up too?" He nodded towards the platform and poured himself a cup.

"I'm a little early so..hey wait. Cam told you about Finn? And our date?" She asked with a bit of panic in her voice.

"No she did not. I heard rumors. You know how fast the romance hotline works around here. Finn confirmed it when we had breakfast this morning" he replied blandly.

Michelle groaned and rolled her eyes "You, had breakfast with Finn?"

"Is there a problem?"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HIM?" She demanded. "I swear Uncle Booth, if you made him squirm I, I'll, I..." she couldn't think of an appropriate threat on the spot, but damn, she was annoyed.

"Whoa, innocent here." He held up his hands in mock surrender. "All I did was buy him breakfast."

"Right" She said sarcastically, "the last time you talked to my boyfriend, he jumped for a week when I tried to hold his hand."

"That wasn't my fault. I can't help it if Perry had a nervous condition."

"Perry didn't have a nervous condition until AFTER you gave him your resume" glared Michelle.

"I didn't lie or embellish, I was just trying to make conversation." Booth continued to sip his coffee.

"YOU TOLD HIM YOU WERE A SNIPER." Michelle was practically shouting now.

That last comment had carried. Finn, Hodgins and Dr. Brennan glanced up. Brennan looked at her watch and smiled, saying "I think that's enough for the day." She stripped off her gloves and headed towards her office. Finn glanced at Hodgins. "Agent Booth was a sniper?" Seeing the intern paling a bit, Hodgins decided to have fun. He started up towards the lounge, Finn following. "Yea, he's pretty good at hand to hand combat too. You know, there was this one time when we had some Men in Black types demanding we look at some bones. Booth took 3 of them out in under a minute, I mean granted, they weren't really going to use guns or anything on us, but these guys were trained government agents and he locked them to railings with their own handcuffs. This was AFTER he evaded 3 of them to break back into the lab, and shot 2 cantaloupes from the catwalk in 1.6 seconds moving at 11 miles an hour with an 80 year old gun."

They reached the lounge where Michelle was glaring at Booth, but the agent seemed unconcerned.

"Hey Michelle. Hey Booth" Hodgins said. Michelle went to give Finn a kiss, but he turned his head at the last minute so she got his cheek instead of his lips. He was swallowing hard and glancing nervously in Booth's direction.

"All right, WHAT did you guys say to him? " Michelle glared at Hodgins and Booth in order. Both men fixed expressions of innocence on their faces. "I was just telling him about a past case" said Hodgins, "Coffee and pancakes" said Booth.

Further conversation was halted as Brennan arrived in the lounge area. "Ok, Bones, ready to roll? Have a good night you two." The older couple said their goodbyes and left, Hodgins used the opportunity to escape further questioning.

As he heard the doors close signalling Booth and Brennan's exit, Finn exhaled and greeted Michelle properly.

"Are you okay?" Michelle asked.

"Yep. But I do believe I'll be as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs around Agent Booth for a while." He took a sip of her coffee. "Come on, let's get out of here."