The Men From the Gate

Disclaimer: Let me check, hold on, maybe . . . No, they're not mine.

A/N: Well, here's the latest chapter. After such a plot heavy chapter, this one is, hopefully, lighter and funnier. I want to thank my beta Ann who continues to help me write better and better chapters. I hope you guys like it and that you review. Last chapter barely received four reviews. I guess the site problems and the Harry Potter weekend contributed to. But, please drop me a line and let me know what you think about the development of the story. I know that the alerts are down again, so if you like this you might want to check out 'These are the Moments' - a one shot I wrote and posted a few days ago and let me know what you think.

Chapter 11

Two and a half hours later, Booth walked into the lab to find all the squints (his and O'Neill's) still engrossed in their work. He just knew they'd lost track of time. He stood by the threshold and waited to see if anyone noticed him; after a few minutes of silence, he coughed and still nothing. He moved towards Brennan's table and leaned against its side.

"Ok, Bones, come on; let's go," he said.

"What?" Brennan said with a distracted air. "Booth, what are you doing here? I'm busy, go away," she said without looking up from her work.

"Bones," Booth said as he pulled Brennan's chair from the table. "It's been two and a half hours; half an hour more than what we agreed on . . ."

"We didn't agree on anything," Brennan interrupted as she finally turned to look at him. "You decreed and expect me to just go along with it."

"Bones," Booth said again, ignoring her outburst. "Come on, it's time to call it quits. You had an extra half hour to run all manner of tests and now it's time to stop for the night."

He then turned to look at the others in the room and said, "That goes for all of you. The general," he added looking at Sam and Daniel, "was finishing a phone call and couldn't come down. But he told me to tell you that he expects to see you up top in ten minutes and you better not make him come down to get you."

Sam nodded and with a small smile started to shut everything down. It had been a long day and a good night's sleep wouldn't be the worst thing. Daniel too started to shut down everything but he did so mumbling about how he wasn't a child and didn't need a keeper telling him when to go to bed.

Hodgins, who was sitting close to the archeologist and grinning widely at his mutterings, closed down his computer and asked, "Booth, do you know where Angela is? She hasn't been by all afternoon. We can't leave without her."

"Don't worry," Booth answered, he was pulling Brennan up and she was batting his hands away. "She's on her way up. She came by the conference room about half an hour ago, saying she was hungry and wanted to go to dinner."

"That sounds like a good idea, actually," Hodgins agreed as he walked towards the door. "I'm hungry too."

"Good," Booth answered, he had succeeded in making Brennan shut down her computer and was now pushing her towards the door where the rest of the squints were waiting. "She and Vala have decided that we're all going to O'Malley's," Booth explained as they walked towards the elevator.

Forty minutes later, they were all settled down at their tables and were studying the menus. When Brennan had decided what she wanted, she put the menu down and looked around the table.

"This is a typical division," Brennan commented to Booth who was sitting next to her.

"Hum?" Booth said as he too put down his menu. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that anthropologically speaking whenever a large group like this gets together, there tends to be a division along gender lines. It has to . . ."

"Ugh," Booth interrupted Brennan's anthropological lecture, "I really don't want to hear the reasons, Bones. That's just the way things are," he said with a shrug as he looked down the table where sure enough all the women were on one side and all the men were on the other. All the couples were seated directly across from each other. Booth, who was sitting at the head of the table, was the only man to be seating next to a woman: Brennan. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure," Brennan said as she put down her glass of water. "You can tell how can he gets to have a gun and I don't."

"Who is he?" Booth asked in a resigned tone.

"Dr. Jackson," was Brennan's answer. She paused while the waiter took their order before she continued. "Last night, you told me that the reason Sam had a gun was because she was military. Well, Dr. Jackson is not military; in fact, he's a scientist just like I am. Well, ok, his PhDs are in archeology, linguistics and anthropology and not forensic anthropology but still I think . . ."

"Ok, ok," Booth interrupted her once again. "He's a squint just like you; I get it." He said with as he raked his fingers through his hair. "But that's were the similarities end."

"What are talking about?" Brennan asked, indignantly. "We both go out into the field."

"Yeah, ok," Booth agreed. "But there are two big differences between the two of you."

"Yes, what are they?" Brennan asked as she sat back and crossed her arms.

"Well, number one," Booth said as he held up one finger, "he's never shot an unarmed man without any warning,"

"That wasn't my fault," now it was Brennan whointerrupted Booth. "If I hadn't stopped him, he would have destroyed the evidence – and killed me.

"And that's why the case didn't go to trial," Booth responded, thinking that only Bones would put destroying the evidence before her safety, "But the fact remains, that you were charged and have a record. Dr. Jackson doesn't."

"What's the second one?" She asked after a few moments of sulking.

"The second one what?" Booth asked as he shifted on his chair.

"You said there were two big differences between Dr. Jackson and I. What's the second difference?"

"Ah," Booth said as he nodded and sat down his glass. "Well, Dr. Jackson works for the military and you don't. And the military has its own rules governing who they give weapons to. Don't," he said when he saw Brennan opening her mouth.

"What?" she asked with an innocent smile, "I didn't say anything."

"Maybe not, but I can tell what you're thinking," he said and continued talking over Brennan's protests that he wasn't a mind reader. "You wouldn't like being in the military, Bones, trust me. You don't have the discipline."

"What?!" she asked, once again indignant. "What do you mean I don't have discipline? How do you think I got to where I am without discipline?"

"Yes, Bones," Booth said before she could really get started. "I know that you have great discipline but it's a discipline that you impose. You have no use for any discipline that's imposed by someone else nor do you have much patience with authority figures. You wouldn't last two days in the military before you were kick out for insubordination."

Brennan opened her mouth to argue but Booth just looked at her, daring to disagree. She reconsidered and then closed her mouth. Shereally couldn't disagree – he was right after all and she'd said something very similar to Sam not too long ago. Booth smirked and they fell silent for a few moments until Brennan gave a deep sigh and sat back on her chair.

"It's not fair," she said. "I didn't really hurt him and the evidence I saved sent him to jail. But do they think about that? No, of course not. I still can't get a gun. It's not fair," she repeated.

"No, it's not," Booth agreed and took a sip of water to hide his smile. It was a rare thing to see Brennan pouting or sulking but it did happen from time to time. Booth was happy that he was one of the few that got to experience the phenomenon because it meant that she really trusted him. "But look at the bright side."

"What bright side?" she asked, doubtfully.

"Well, you don't really need a gun because I'm always there to protect you and be your gun, however," he added quickly when he saw that she was opening her mouth to protest, "whenever there is a particularly dangerous situation that I think merits you carrying a gun, I always give you my side piece, don't I?" He waited for her nod and then added, "So, you see, if you need a gun you have a gun and, this is the bright side, you don't have to deal with all the paper work that comes when you're assigned a gun. You get to have the gun, discharge it if needed and then go home while I have to go back to the Hoover building and fill out all the paper work to explain the shooting."

"Hmm," Brennan said as she thought about it. It was true that he was always there to protect her and that he didn't make a big deal of giving her a gun when the situation warranted it. And a gun wouldn't have made much differencethose times she'd been in danger when he wasn't around. In fact, the one time he was kidnapped, his gun didn't do him much good. And the last thing she needed was more paperwork. "Ok, maybe you're right. Maybe there is a bright side."

"Of course there is," Booth said firmly. "See, Bones, if you'd just listen to me more often, life would be much easier all around."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "Like that's going to happen," she said with a smile he returned.

"So," he said after the waiter had left their dinner."What haveyoufound so far?"

Brennan started on her plate at the same time she started to relate the few discoveries they'd made so far. They were unaware that they were the subject of the intense discussion that was taking place a few seats down.

"They look so intense, I wonder what they're talking about," Vala said as she studied Booth and Brennan from the corner of her eye. She was sitting hallways down the side with Angela at one side and Sam at the other. Cam was at Angela's side and Janet at Sam's. Though Cam was next to Brennan, the space between their chairs was larger than the space between the other chairs as Brennan had pushed her chair closer to Booth's as well as turned her body in his direction.

"Well," Angela said from Vala's side as she started her meal without bothering to look at the couple in question. "It is Booth and Brennan we're talking about, so they're either bickering about the most trivial thing or they're discussing the case."

"Really?" Dr. Janet Frasier, who had been waiting with Vala and Angela by the cars, asked from her seat. "They seem too . . . passionate for them to be merely bickering or discussing work."

"Oh, I know," Angela said with a wave of her fork. "They're very passionate people and most of their interactions are very . . . lively. But trust me, usually the more passionate they're being, the more they're disagreeing."

"And you said that they're not a couple?" Janet asked for confirmation of a fact that she didn't really believe.

"No, they're not," Angela said as she too turned and studied the couple, who was still oblivious to the attention they were attracting. "Sad, isn't it?" She asked. "It seems like everyone but them can see it."

"You did say," Vala said, "that they've had the talk. So, they do see it."

"I guess," Angela said, doubtfully. "But I don't want to get my hopes up, you know. They may have had a talk and Brennan may not be as clueless as I thought, but she still has a long way to go."

"Oh, I don't know," Sam said, speaking up for the first time. "I don't think she has as far to go as you might think." As she stopped talking, all the women (sans Brennan) turned to look at her.

"What?" Angela squealed but quieted down quickly when she saw Daniel and Jack as well as Hodgins turning to look at her. She waved at them and then turned to see if Booth or Brennan had noticed it, but they were so into each other, they hadn't noticed anything. "What do you mean?" she asked much more quietly.

"Well," Sam said as she put down her fork, aware that all four of the women were again looking at her. "Nothing, it'sjust a feeling I got when we were talking earlier today. It seems to me that she's already thinking about what it would be like if they were in a relationship."

"But what did she say?" Angela asked as she turned her whole attention to Sam and almost forgot her dinner. Sam chuckled and started to recount the conversation she'd had with Temperance a few hours ago.

"But, you know," Sam added after she'd finished the story and after Angela had finished squealing (quietly), "she's not the only one that has issues." Janet nodded her head in agreement with the statement while Camille and Vala looked thoughtful and Angela looked surprised.

"What do you mean?" unsurprisingly, it was Angela who asked.

"Well," Sam began slowly as she put her drink down. "How much do you know about his past?"

Angela looked at Camille before she turned back to Sam and answered, "We know that he was an Army Ranger and a sniper. And that he's been in the FBI for a few years but not much more than that. He's very private." Angela paused and Sam nodded. "I do know that Brennan knows more about it; though, she's never spoken about it because she'd never break his confidence."

"Of course she wouldn't," Sam agreed and took a few seconds before continuing. "Well, you know that I barely know Booth but he reminds me of Jack. And, well, let's just say that their military careers are . . . similar. Giving that, I have a feeling that he has as far to go as she does. But, I have no doubt that they'll get there eventually. Look at Jack and I; it took us a while but we got here."

"Yeah," Angela answered slowly, it was obvious she was thinking about what Sam had said. "I just hope it doesn't take them as long. No offense," she added quickly.

"No offense taken," Sam said with a laugh. They then started to guess how long it could take Brennan and Booth to 'wake up' and who'd 'wake up' first.

Because of the proximity to the couple, they hadn't been able to speak very loudly and they've all pushed their chairs closer together until they were almost touching. The men in front of them had noticed this and were making their own speculations about what could be so interesting.

"So, what do you think they're talking about so intensely?" Jack asked Cameron and Teal'c who were to his left. He'd ask Daniel except that he was occupied with the scientists from the Jeffersonian. Besides, the spacemonkey didn't know much about women.

"Well, General," Cameron answered as he put down his glass and picked up his fork again. "Usually when a group of women congregate like that," he said as he waved towards the now giggling group of women, "and acts like that, they're engaging in one type of conversation: men."

"Indeed, O'Neill," Teal'c agreed with a nod of his head as he paused his eating. "I have observed that when women act like that they are either talking of men or romance. Though," he added thoughtfully, "I have rarely seen Col. Carter act thusly."

"You're kidding, right?" Cameron asked, incredulous as he looked over at Teal'c. "Haven't you seen how she acts whenever she and Vala get together? It's like 'Invasions of the Cheerleaders from Hell.'" He finished with a mock shudder. Teal'c looked at Cameron for a moment before he inclined his head again in agreement.

"But in his defense," Jack said, pointing at Teal'c. "Sam had never acted like that before she met Vala. But," he continued as he turned once more to look at the women. "Who do you think they're talking about?"

"If I had to take a guess," Cameron said slowly, "I'd say that they're talking about Booth and his lady doctor. For what I gathered, whether they're involved or not seem to be a highly discussed question."

"Yeah," Jack said as he picked up his beer. "That's what I thought." He added with a nod and then he started to talk about the latest hockey scores.

Less than an hour later, the gender division had once more made itsappearance. The men had gone to play billiards and the women had stayed behind. Sam would usually have joined the men and would have also beaten them, but this time she decided to stay and just observe them. It was a very nice way to pass the time.

"They sure look great, don't they?" Angela asked as she observed the men from where she was relaxing on her chair, drinking wine.

"Yeah, they're all very hot," Vala agreed with a naughty grin.

"You know," Sam began in a contemplative tone, "not because he's my husband, but I think Jack is one of the best looking men here. There's just something about his white hair, tanned skin, those muscles and that great smile," and then because she'd had a few glasses of wine, she added with a saucy smile, "not to mention that very nice behind."

Janet looked at her friend with an amused smile while Cam, Angela and Brennan checked out the 'nice behind'.

"I don't know, Sam," Vala said, sounding surprisingly serious. "Jack does have a great behind, I agree," she had, after all, already checked out everyone's behinds. "And all you mentioned is true enough but, personally and objectively, I think Daniel is better looking. I mean take those blue eyes of his – a woman can just get lost in them. And he has as many muscles as Jack and his behind is twice as good." Vala was going to continued expanding on Daniel's attributes but was stopped by Angela's snort.

"Please, like either of you are being objective," Angela said with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, your guys are good looking and all, but they're not any better looking than Hodgins. You want to talk blue eyes; Hodgie has the bluest eyes I've ever seen. And though he's a bit shorter than the rest, I can assure you that he's lacking in nothing else. He might not look it, but that man has as much muscle as the next man. As for his behind, well, we can all see for ourselves." And they all turned around and stared at Hodgins, who had just bent down to take a shot. After a few moments of silent contemplation, Brennan spoke up.

"I don't think any one of you can be objective," Brennan observed and had Sam, Vala and Angela turning to look at her.

"And you can, sweetie?" Angela asked very sweetly.

"Yes," Brennan answered matter of fact. "I think, objectivelyspeaking, that Booth has the best structure of the group." She ignored the laughs and 'of course' scoffs of the other women and continued in an analytical manner. "His musculature is ideal for his size, his features are symmetrical, his eyes may not be blue but his shade of brown is not only beautiful but also stronger than the lighter colors. His height is above average and is a source of comfort for those around him, he has a quick brain allowing him to act quickly in dangerous situations, he also has great wit and sense of humor and his alpha male qualities, while annoying also make him a most reliable person. All in all, he is a great candidate for mating." This clinical analysis of her partner was received by complete silence by her tablemates. She looked around at the stunned faces and innocently asked, "What?"

"Well," Vala spoke up after sharing amused looks with the rest of the women. "If you think that way, why haven't you snapped that man up yourself?"

"Snapped up?" Brennan asked. "I don't know what . . ."

"She means, sweetie," Angela answered before Brennan finished her question. "That if you think Booth is so hot, why haven't you done something about it by now? You know snatch him up, jump him, take him out of circulation."

Brennan stared at her for a minute before saying with a frown, "Angela, Booth is not an object that I can just take if I want. Besides, we're just partners and friends, why would I want to 'snatch him up'?"

"Oh, Bren," Angela said almost in despair as she shook her head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you. If you really don't know what to do with a man like that," she shook her head again and then added with a smirk, "Though, I can give you some ideas, if you want. You can always . . ."

"Ange!!" Brennan exclaimed, stopping Angela before she could say anything. Angela chuckled and subsided with a wicked grin that the other women shared.

"Seriously, though Dr. Brennan," Camille said suddenly. "If you don't hurry up and stake yourclaim, some one else may come along that won't hesitate and you might lose your chance."

"Booth," Brennan began almost through clenched teeth, "is not a piece of land that I can just stake a claim on. How am I supposed to do that, anyway? Stick a label on him that says 'Temperance Brennan's property?'" She asked sarcastically to mask the fear Camille's prediction had produced. The fact was that the idea that Booth could fall for someone else hadn't really entered her mind in months.

"No, sweetie," Angela said on a laugh that was shared by everyone else. "You don't need a label; there are a variety of ways to claim ownership of a man. You can go from the blatant ring on his finger to the subtler hickey on his neck to . . ."

"How is a hickey subtle?" Brennan asked, incredulously but then thought better of it. "No, you know what? Forget it, I don't want to know. And could we please change the subject?"

"Fine," Angela said, knowing she'd pushed her luck far enough. "You know no one has commented on Cameron, Teal'c or Zack. Doesn't anyone want to comment on their looks?" And she added with a grin and a glance at Brennan, "Or their structures?" When Brennan glared at her, Angela put her hands upin surrender and with another chuckle she stopped baiting Brennan asthe talk turned to the remaining guys and funny stories that the guys would have preferred remain secret.