Spoilers: Blah.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, cars, or Mariah Carey.
Author's Note: I wrote the majority of this chapter in a science lesson, so…A VERY huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! You guys keep me writing! I love you all!!
Brennan smiled as she walked to the car with Booth; she loved going on Booth's little 'road trips', whether she would admit it or not. Booth seemed to be in a good mood, which she figured had something to do with getting a lead on this case, so she decided to push her luck.
"Can I drive?" There was no point in mincing her words, here: it was hit or miss.
Booth looked at her like she had just asked him to renounce Catholicism. "No, Bones. Not now, not tomorrow, not next week, not ever." He made a wild hand gesture that caused her to recoil back against the door. She looked at him sulkily, almost angry.
"Why not? I'm a very good driver, I've told you before. Besides, you always drive."
"Yes, Bones. I always drive," he emphasized. "Did you ever see a little pattern here-'' he gestured between them "-with your freakish…Squint-brain?"
"Hey! That's unfair. And my brain is not 'freakish'. It's physiologically the same as yours, Booth. I'm just smarter than you."
"Gee, thanks, Bones. It's always nice to be complimented first thing in the morning," he retorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes. They stood in the parking lot for a minute or two, trying silently to stare each other down. Brennan broke the silence.
"So can I drive?"
His head swiveled so he was looking right at her. "No." He opened the passenger side door for her, holding it open so she had to walk under his arm. She muttered something about chauvinism and bigotry as he closed her door, making him grin at her through the window in victory.
She resisted the urge to poke her tongue out. Booth didn't, making Brennan laugh. He was still grinning at her as he opened his door, taking his keys out very deliberately, waving them in front of her face.
He leaned in closer, so their faces were barely six inches apart, holding the keys next to them. "Ready to go, Bones? Or are you going to sulk some more?" he teased. She narrowed her eyes at him, gauging whether to play with or ignore him.
Leaning back into her seat, she decided on both. "Fine." He smiled smugly, clearly pleased with himself. "But the radio's mine."
He looked at her skeptically. "Fine. Just make sure you don't pick something that will make me crash this car." She rolled her eyes and he started the engine, happy that he got the last word.
They were almost half way there when Booth noticed that Brennan had fallen asleep. They had been sitting in comfortable silence for about an hour when Booth looked over and saw her lying against the seat with her eyes closed, her breathing perfectly steady.
He had to force himself to keep focused on the road; she really was beautiful. The mid-morning sun was on her face, lighting her strong features softly, illuminating her hair, giving her a sort of ethereal aura.
Even asleep in the car, she held herself in a somewhat graceful manner; her hands were folded in her lap, one over the other, palms up; her back was straight, but comfortably so, as if it were perfectly natural; her head was leaning slightly to her left, giving Booth an effortless view of her face.
He could feel his grip tighten on the wheel if he looked at her for too long, and felt slightly ashamed; if he was going to be doing this, he should at least have the decency to do it while she was awake. Or the courage, he thought sulkily.
He couldn't handle it any longer. With all his willpower, her reached a hand over and shook her shoulder slightly, as he did with Parker in the morning. "Bones," he whispered. He ran a finger along her jawbone, and down her neck, keeping his palm on her shoulder, trying to rouse her gently.
He mentally scolded himself. No, this was most definitely not how he woke up Parker. His hand continued to disobey him, however, and he said her name again, a little bit louder. He heard her mumble something incoherent and she rolled her head so she was facing the windshield.
Booth took his hand away. "Hey. Sorry to wake you," he said honestly.
"What? Oh. I fell asleep." She shook her head, trying to clear it from sleep. Booth laughed quietly at her obvious remark.
"Yeah, Bones, you fell asleep. Nice to know that Squint-brain of yours is being put to good use," he said, smiling crookedly, holding back more laughter.
She ignored the remark completely. "How long have I been asleep? Are we there yet?" Booth laughed again, and she looked at him, confused.
"What? When you were on car trips, as a kid, you never...you know...the whole 'Are we there yet' thing?" She looked at him blankly. He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Never mind, Bones...never mind..." He patted her knee as if she was an invalid, nodding in mock pity. She swatted his hand playfully, and turned her attention to the radio.
Brennan fiddled for about five minutes before deciding that there was nothing to listen to, all the while driving Booth mad with incessant talk, crackle, music, crackle, talk, music, crackle. She dug through the glove compartment to see if she could find any CD's. She grinned victoriously and made a little questioning noise when she found a Mariah Carey CD.
Booth flashed a look over, quickly doing a double-take. "Uh...That's um. No, you see-that's not mine!" he stuttered, making a grab for the CD. She pulled it away from his grasp, like she might have an infant.
"I'm sure it isn't, Booth." Booth looked relieved. "All I want to know is: why is it in your car?" She smirked, knowing she had him cornered. Booth grimaced. He couldn't think of anything to say. He had completely forgotten about that CD; how could he explain it to Brennan? He decided he may as well tell her the truth.
"Uh...there was...you know, this girl." He emphasized the word so he didn't have to explain his exact relationship with 'this girl'; Brennan would understand the tone. "And she had the CD in her purse. And the purse ended up, you know, on the floor of the car, and that kind of, you know, fell out of it, so I, you know, put it there..." Booth was staring at the road, refusing to look at his partner. He didn't really want to talk about car-sex with Bones.
To his surprise, Brennan laughed. "You...You dated a girl who listens to Mariah Carey? Geez, I knew your taste was...limited, but I didn't think it was that bad!" Brennan turned the CD over in her hands, studying the half naked pictures.
"Well, we didn't really da-wait! Limited! What do you mean by limited? And I do not have a 'bad' taste in women." Booth was offended. If only she knew how very limited it is, he thought dryly.
She looked at him mock-reprovingly. "I had more faith in you, Booth." She shook her head at him, barely containing her laughter.
"Fine, but what do you mean by 'limited'?" Booth really wanted to know how Brennan saw his...whatever they were.
"I just meant that, besides Cam, every girl you have ever dated while I've known you has been very similar to the one before her. I also know that they are all physically similar to Rebecca, so it isn't just while you've known me that you've had your...preferences." She looked at him and shrugged slightly, ending her point.
He stared at her. He was again perfectly speechless. It is only while I've known you that I've had my preferences, he thought. ...Trust me, it is.
Finally, he decided to end the argument. Booth looked at her sternly, making sure she was paying attention. "You're wrong."
"No I'm not, I mean, just look at-"
"No. Temperance, you are wrong." Brennan was confused by his last comment. Why would Booth call her Temperance? They were having a conversation, an argument, even...why would he call her Temperance now?
Unless he was trying to say something else...They locked eyes across the car. Brennan saw something in Booth's eyes she couldn't name, but whatever it was, she didn't want to see it there. She tore her eyes away, and Booth quickly followed suit.
Screw subtlety, he thought.
