Twenty-one Weeks at Quantico
By: Lesera128
Rated: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing... Obviously. Just playing in someone else's sandbox for a bit.
Summary: When the FBI establishes a pilot program for consultants to receive training at the FBI academy, Brennan and Booth clash over whether she should enroll. AU.
14. T-plus Five Weeks Until Graduation
Booth sat in his office at the Hoover, staring at the outline of the tactical exercise scenario he had just finished creating for Brennan to take part in during her time in the Alley the following week. His brooding thoughts were interrupted when a knock came on his office door.
"Booth?" Sully asked, smiling as he saw his friend. "I thought your light was on… what are you doing here… aren't you supposed to be playing with the kiddies in the Academy sandbox?"
Looking up, his train of thought broken, Booth forced a smile when he saw who had interrupted him.
"Hey, Sully, what's up?
Shaking his head, Sully responded, "Not much… same ole, same ole… what about you?"
More pensive than normal, Booth gestured at the stack of papers on his desk. "Buried in paperwork… as I anticipated when I got shanghaied into this… *crap*..."
"How's it going?" Sully asked, leaning against the door frame.
Booth sighed. "We start the first of the final major individual tac scenarios next week."
At this, Sully winced. "Ehh… I seem to recall not enjoying that part of the program very much."
"Yeah, well, it hasn't changed… and sitting on the opposite side of the desk doesn't make it any more enjoyable either," Booth muttered.
Looking at him, Sully nodded. "Are… are you designing Tempe's scenario?"
Slowly, Booth looked up and nodded his head. "I… I don't want to… I *really* don't want to… but… I figure if it has to be done… it's better that I do it than some stranger just cherry picking random things from her psych profile, you know?"
Sully nodded sympathetically. "Don't worry, Booth. The individual tac scenarios suck. They always have, they always will… it's just something we all gotta go through to get to where we need to go." He paused and then looked at his friend and said, "She'll get through it."
"I've tried to tell her she has to get it through her head not to call them Tick Tock teams when she's in the Alley... it was annoyingly cute coming from a consultant like her, but the guys won't take her seriously if she does it in the field on her own watch," Booth mused.
Sully nodded. "If you told her, I'm sure she'll do it. Like I said, Booth, she'll get through it."
"I know she'll do her damnedest to try, but—"
"But… you're feeling guilty for doing this?"
Booth nodded. He then sighed as he shook his head. "You're right… all of us have to go through this… it's… it's one of the cornerstones of the whole experience. But… knowing that… and knowing that I'm the one whose essentially… setting her up to face… well… you know, Sully. It's painful to go through… and the rational part of my brain tells me she should be no different than any of the other 11 trainees that will be going through the exact same thing, but—"
"But," Sully said quietly. "When you care about someone, you don't want to see them get hurt…."
Booth nodded again, more slowly this time. He then said, "Don't get me wrong… I… when I took the job, I agreed to do what I needed to do to fulfill all the responsibilities of the position… but… I-I… I don't really want to do this… but I have to… and I'm so pissed off at her for having to have put me in the position in the first place."
Watching his friend, Sully said, "Well… it's like you said Booth… you agreed to do the job… so you have to do it… and you never do your duty with less than 100% commitment because that's just the type of guy you are... who you've always been… so all you can do is the best you can… and concentrate on the fact that it'll all be over soon."
Glancing at the calendar, and realizing that only a little over a month remained, Booth nodded. "Yeah, you're right… one way or another… this will *all* be over soon."
The next morning, Brennan felt a searing pain in her chest as she put together what extra burst of speed so she could hurl herself across the finish line. Booth was staring at her as she had crossed it and clicked the stop watch he was holding when she did.
Brennan, slightly hunched over with her hands on her knees, was quickly sucking down gulps of air once she had stopped moving. She was red-faced, sweaty, and several of her muscles were proverbially screaming in pain. Turning, Brennan nodded at him and said, "Well?"
Glancing down at his clipboard, although he already knew what it would tell him, Booth frowned as he said, "Your 5k run is still about three minutes off the mark." He sighed and glanced at the stop watch, before scribbling something on the paper. Standing a bit straighter, he nodded at her, "Agent Brennan… you need a higher score than you currently possess on this exercise… you're going to have to run the course again."
Brennan, still gulping air down, although not as greedily before, looked at him in disbelief. "Now is not the time to crack jokes like that, Booth."
Looking at her over the edge of his sunglasses, he shook his head as his tone softened when he spoke. "I'm not, Bones." He paused and then nodded, "Take a break, get a drink of water… and then report back to the start line… you're going to have to run it again."
Eying him, she said in disbelief, "You're kidding me, right?"
"No, I'm not," Booth repeated.
Huffing in protest, Brennan said, "That is the first time in the *entire* course of the training's PT that my times have come in over the mark… usually I finish well within the allotted time."
"Well, this time you didn't," Booth said. "By three minutes. So, that means you have to run it again."
"Seriously?"
His lips pursing together, his gaze straightened as his demeanor stiffened. "Yes, Agent Brennan, I'm serious."
The disbelief still evident on her face, Brennan didn't say anything else, but merely shook her head as she walked away.
Later that night, Brennan sat in the kitchen at the table next to Chrissy's high chair. The baby was babbling on to no one in particular and banging a spoon against the edge of the highchair's tray in a study beat, as Brennan opened a jar of rice pudding and began to feed her daughter.
"Come on, Chrissy—" Brennan said, putting the spoon in the vicinity of her daughter's mouth. "Here."
The baby stopped making her cacophony of noise as she stared as her mother. She looked at her, and the spoon, and puckered her lips as if about to yell in protest. She then sniffed… obviously smelling the contents of the spoon, and changed her mind. Opening her mouth, she chomped down on the spoon with a greedy smile.
"Mmmmmm….." she cooed, followed by a noisy slurping sound.
Brennan sighed as she looked at the baby with a shake of her head. "Why does it continue to surprise you that you actually like this one every time I feed it to you? It's the same exact pudding."
The baby continued to stare at her, but this time, held open her mouth in anticipation as Brennan moved the spoon to get more of the pudding. Chrissy opened her mouth wider after a few seconds, as she awaited the next mouthful. Spooning more of the pudding onto the utensil, Brennan chuckled as she moved it towards the baby again, who greedily swallowed the proffered pudding as soon as the spoon was in her mouth.
Shaking her head, Brennan said, slightly amused, "I'm not sure who enjoys this flavor more… your or your father."
The baby continued to stare at her with eyes only for the spoon.
Brennan shook her head, "You have such a one-track mind when it comes to food, Chrissy... and that *is* all from your father... not me."
Chrissy stared at her, and, for a moment, Brennan felt as if she were getting into another staring contest that Chrissy had been initiating lately more and more with her.
Shaking her head, Brennan said, "Well, you had *better* enjoy this one... because I think it's the last one until I can get to the store... I don't know how it can be the last one considering that I bought over a dozen jars less than a week ago, but I suspect that you father may have been fighting you for consumption rights when I wasn't here to chastise him."
At this, her daughter made a face, and Brennan nodded. "Yes, I think so, too, baby girl. He's quite silly sometimes"
Continuing to feed the baby several more spoonfuls, Brennan was distracted when she heard in the front door. Booth immediately shuffled into the kitchen, his shoulders and his gait indicative of how tired he was. Brennan, holding one last spoonful of pudding slightly out of Chrissy's reach, stopped in mid-motion, as she looked at her husband. The baby, annoyed at the interruption of her pudding consumption, screeched loudly and leaned forward to grab the spoon.
Booth smiled as he looked at the picture that greeted his eyes. He walked to the high chair, just as Brennan let Chrissy have the last spoonful. Leaning down, he nuzzled the baby's head as he said, "Hey, Tadpole."
Looking at her father, the baby's eyes light up as she reached out her hands to him. He took one and played with it for a minute, but didn't move to pick her up out of the chair, as he knew she wanted him to do. "What's for dinner, hmmm?" he asked Chrissy.
Brennan frowned, but replied in her daughter's stead. "Rice pudding."
Glancing at her, he nodded and then broke into a wide smile for the baby. "Pudding? Pudding, huh? *Of course* you had to eat all your pudding before Daddy got home, so you wouldn't have to share any, right?"
At this, the baby nodded and clapped. Booth laughed. He then mussed her hair before he nodded to Brennan. "Hey."
Sighing as she was at last formally acknowledged, Brennan said, "And good evening to you, too."
Booth eyed her, leaning against the nearby counter. "You're still mad at me?"
"No," the response came just a bit too quickly.
"That tone doesn't match up with your claim, Bones," Booth said.
Taking the dishtowel she had slung over her shoulder, Brennan wiped the baby's mouth as Chrissy howled in protest at the rough action. She had begun banging on the high chair again. Standing, Brennan took the spoon and empty baby food jar to the sink. Rinsing both out, she then washed her hands, before she turned to look at him.
"You are the *one* who did not greet *me* upon *your* arrival home, Booth. Perhaps I am just reacting to that slight," Brennan said, as she moved past him to deposit the jar in the recycling bin."
"We both know this isn't because I didn't kiss you to say hello, Bones," Booth muttered.
Her lips pursed, she spun on her heels as she said, "That's not completely true. I *am* annoyed you greeted the baby before me since I am capable of verbalizing an actual response to you while she is currently unable to do so. However, you are also correct that I am upset at you…."
"I thought we agreed," Booth began, "We agreed when I started at the Academy that, what was at work would stay at work, and when we're at home, we would just be at home, Bones… you know… leave the Agent Booth, Agent Brennan crap at Quantico… and, here… here just be Booth and Bones, right? Remember?"
Frowning, Brennan said, "I do remember making that agreement with you last month, Booth… but that was before you were a complete asshole on the track today."
"Hey, now!" Booth protested. His head jerked in the direction of the high chair. "Icks-nay on the colorful metaphors in front of the baby."
Brennan frowned and then pointed. "See, right there, Booth... it's not what you say that's necessarily the problem... it's *how* you're saying it that's the issue."
Booth shook his head, "Hey, you know what... I was just doing my job."
"Yes, well you could have done it in a less condescending manner," Brennan countered.
"Your score wasn't good enough. I told you exactly the same thing I would have told any of the other trainees if they hadn't finished in the requisite amount of time," Booth protested.
"Of course..." Brennan snapped again, her fatigue and her frustration letting her anger flare a bit more brightly than it normally would in front of Chrissy. "I wouldn't have had to run the goddamn course a second time, because my first score would have been fine, if I hadn't been up all night with the baby by myself and only managed about two hours of sleep because you crashed at the Academy instead of coming home last night. I'm sure my level of fatigue this morning effected my initial run through the course."
Booth sighed. "Oh, is that what this is about?"
Brennan fumed.
"I told you last night… it made no sense for me to drive for half an hour, almost forty-five minutes, when I had to stay until well past 2am last night helping to set up for today's activities in the Alley... only to come home for about an hour and a half when I would have to just turn around to be back there by 7am to make the PT start times, Bones. So, yeah, I crashed in the lounge for a few hours of shut eye. What *is* the big deal? It's not like it happens every night," Booth said.
"No, but it has been happening *at* least once or twice a week. And, to make up for you not being here, I'm the one who has to pull up the slack with Chrissy," Brennan retorted.
"'Pick up' the slack... not pull up," Booth muttered.
"What ever," Brennan said dismissively.
"You know... it's not like I didn't have to do that for the three months prior to this when *you* were the one that was getting mired down in Academy BS," Booth responded.
Brennan pursed her lips and shook her head. "Last night, *I* was the one who got stuck with a cranky baby, not you. Then, unlike you, I was the one who had to pull a full day at the Academy," Brennan said. "And, for your information, that is the reason that explains why I was exhausted this morning… and still am, by the way, when you're the one who A.) got a decent night's sleep last night and B.) didn't have to be the one who had to run a 5k course today, Booth, *twice*."
"You know, Bones, I hate to remind you of the obvious, but if you recall, the entire reason we're in this situation… *both* of us… is because *you* wanted to do this… not me. I'm just doing a job I didn't want to do in the first place, for *you*... and I wouldn't have had to do this, *we* wouldn't have had to do this if you had paid attention to me originally," Booth shot back.
Brennan shook her head. "The baby's fed. I'd appreciate if you could change and put her down. Every single muscle in my shoulders, back, and right and left legs are metaphorically screaming from this morning's exercises and lack of sleep, so I'm going to go soak in the tub for a little bit if that's okay with you?" She didn't wait for an answer as she turned and quickly left.
Booth shook his head. He moved to the high chair and lifted the baby out. She smiled at him, and he couldn't help but reciprocate.
"You're mother's very cranky today, Chrissy," Booth said.
The baby seemed to nod in agreement.
"Yeah, I think so, too…."
An hour later, Brennan was sitting at her vanity, brushing her wet hair when Booth snuck up behind her and began to rub her shoulders. As soon as Brennan felt his warm hands on her tight muscles, she tensed. For a split second, Booth was afraid she might do something... like try and flip him away from her. Brennan, however, merely took a few seconds as she fought between wanting to yell at him again… and moaning at him because of the fact that what he was doing to her aching muscles felt very, very good. Eventually, the need for the muscles to continue to receive some very welcome attention won over her desire to yell again. Her decision made, Booth smiled as he saw Brennan close her eyes and lean back into him, sighing softly in pleasure after two or three minutes.
"Better?" he asked finally, although he didn't stop the shoulder rub, but had now moved on to her back.
Again, she sighed in contentment. "Yes," Brennan eventually said softly.
"Am I forgiven?"
"Are you apologizing?" Brennan asked hopefully, her eyes still closed.
Leaning down, he moved her wet hair off her neck and kissed it. "If you want me to..."
"No," Brennan sighed after a moment, her anger having melted away and disappeared somewhere between when he began at her shoulders and had moved down her spine. "However, you may consider yourself forgiven... but only because you've got really good hands."
"That's what they all tell me," he said with a sly grin.
Brennan chuckled, and leaned back into him.
Booth inhaled the scent of her hair and breathed so that small goosebumps came up on her neck. "So, we're good?"
"Yes."
"Good. Then come sit with me."
"Where?"
"By the tree," Booth said.
With Christmas only a couple of weeks away, Brennan had relented and helped Booth and Parker put their Christmas decorations up earlier than she normally did. When she initially protested the idea to decorate the house earlier, when Booth pointed out that it was technically the baby's first Christmas, Brennan softened her resolve. Booth had spent each night over the past week when he was home before Chrissy went to sleep just laying on a blanket in front of the tree with the baby and watching the lights and decorations. Despite his entreaties for her to join them, Brennan had resisted because of her mounting annoyance of his reaction to being at the Academy with her and the effects the change was making on their home lives. Now, feeling some what less annoyed by him than she had been previously, in a more relaxed and mellow mood then she had felt for some time, Brennan allowed him to pull her up, and she followed him out to the family room.
Despite the fact that the day's temperature hadn't been all that cold, Brennan immediately noticed that Booth had built a roaring fire in the fire place. He had already turned off all the other lights, and the stereo was softly playing one of the satellite radio stations that featured Christmas carols 24-hours a day. The blanket that he normally sat on with the baby was again spread out, but this time it was joined by a few pillows. Booth plopped down on the blanket. Looking up at Brennan, he patted the spot next to him.
"Come on, Bones."
She sighed, but moved to gingerly sit down next to him.
He grinned and said, "Why so formal?"
Brennan frowned. "As I am currently attired only in my bathrobe, Booth, it does not allow me the same range of motion that being clad in pants like those you are wearing afford."
His smile widened, but he said nothing as she shifted slightly and leaned in against him when he extended his arms. They both stared at the tree, and, each lost in their own thoughts were quiet for a time.
"You know," he began. "It's only a couple of week's until Chrissy's birthday."
Brennan nodded. "I am somewhat surprised at how quickly that date has approached. Logically, I know that the past year has lasted for just as many days and hours as previous ones… but, my perception is such that it's duration does not seem to have lasted as long as most other years have…."
"And it's gonna stay that way for a while, Bones… when she's this young… it goes by fast... so fast," Booth said.
Brennan bit her lip at those words, the thoughts behind them silently echoing a concern she had had since the baby was born.
"I-I… I feel, Booth… I…I wonder if…."
"What, Bones?"
"I wonder if we have made the right choices… she's so little now… but she's already so much bigger than she has been… and I feel like we are both missing *so* much…." Brennan said softly.
"It'll get better," he said finally. "Only a few more weeks, and then we'll be done with this crap, Bones. Things will get back to normal soon enough. I promise."
Brennan was quiet for a moment before she said, "I still want to have a big party for her. I know it can only be family… but… I want to commemorate her first birthday in the traditional manner."
"And we will," Booth said. "I already told you I'd help… and so did Parker. He's beside himself with excitement about getting to pick out the cake and stuff."
Brennan nodded. Silence descended upon the pair again. Some time later, Booth spoke again. "What's on that beautiful brain of yours, Bones?"
"Mmmm… I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"About how… a year ago… I was so miserable… I had already been on bed rest for a month… and felt like I just kept swelling... I was just getting bigger and bigger while the baby grew… I didn't... *couldn't* really enjoy last year's holidays because I was *so* pregnant… and now… now all I can think back about is how I miss having her right below my heart."
"What do you remember about the day she was born?" Booth asked her.
Brennan thought for a moment before she said, "Aside from the fact that I questioned how stupid I was to think that the notion of natural child birth and the pain one endures while experiencing it could be dealt with by a strong will and logical decision to merely separate one's self from the pain?"
Booth nodded with a chuckle.
"I… it's going to sound silly… but I remember that I kept looking at the clock," Brennan said.
"To monitor the contractions, right?" Booth asked.
Brennan shook her head. "No… I had you there counting them out, so why would I need to keep looking at the clock if that was my reason?"
"I don't know, Bones… focal point?"
"No," Brennan said again. "I remember… I spent the entire afternoon when I first realized that I had gone into labor for certain… that she would be born on a holiday… I think the contractions probably started some time New Year's Eve, but with Parker and my dad and everyone else here, I was kind of distracted. Labor… it doesn't come on like every thinks it does. It's not like, all of a sudden, your body decides to start having contractions that are spaced five minutes a part, twenty minutes later your water breaks, and twenty minutes after that you've given birth," Brennan mused. "It's… it's a lot more subtle than that at the beginning. I think I realized the next morning… New Years' morning… late morning, it might have been early afternoon, I'm not really certain… anyway, I think that was when I realized it wasn't Braxton-Hicks… not that, logically, it really could have been false labor since it was only two days before my due date... And then, for some reason, I became very concerned that if I gave birth to the baby on New Years' Day… she'd share her day… the one special day that's supposed to be hers during the year… with a major holiday. And, for some reason, that really irked me, Booth. And we went to the hospital, and the labor dragged on... the dilation didn't happen as quickly as I thought it would... and, then suddenly, it was an hour to midnight... and she started coming so fast... but, I kept thinking, if I could just hold on a little more... just control the pain, focus on the breathing... slow things down... all I had to do was make it a little longer, just past midnight... and then she'd have her own day... And, so I made the decision, just decided right then and there… I wasn't going to give birth to her until January 2nd."
"So that's why you kept looking at the clock?" Booth said, amused at this tidbit from one of the most important nights in his entire life of which he had heretofore been unaware.
"Yeah," Brennan said. "You have no idea how grateful I was when I saw that damn minute hand move to the five minute position. I figured if I could wait until 12:05… even if the clock was off… by the time the baby was out, officially, it would be January 2nd."
"You drove poor Macy insane," Booth said, referencing Brennan's beleaguered OB/GYN.
Brennan shrugged. "Well, she should have believed me when I told her I wasn't going to push for another five minutes."
"And so the battle of wills between you and Chrissy began," Booth chuckled.
"Yeah, well," Brennan nodded. "Look who won the first round… she was born on January 2nd, wasn't she?"
"12:09am," Booth added with a laugh. He then turned to her and said, "Bones?"
"Yes, Booth?"
"I know that Christmas is still a couple of weeks away… but, I… ah, I have something I want to give you now if that's okay," he said.
Brennan looked at him curiously, but nodded her agreement.
Booth grinned and then quickly stood and scampered off back somewhere into the depths of the apartment. He came back a couple of minutes later carrying a medium-sized box wrapped in gold foil paper with a large red bow.
Sitting back down and crossing his legs so that he sat Indian-style in front of her, he pressed the box into her hands.
Smiling, she shook her head, "I don't have anything for you yet, Booth."
"That's okay," he said. "I… this isn't the only thing I have for you, just so you know… but… I… given what we've been talking about… I want you to have it now."
"Really?" she said excitement very clear in her voice.
He nodded. "Yeah. Merry Christmas, Bones."
Her smile brightened into a mischievous grin as she quickly began to tear at the paper and the box. Reaching into the tissue paper, her hand closed around a hard object. Pulling it out, as soon as she saw what it was, her smile disappeared as she had to swallow twice to keep a tight knot from forming in her throat.
"You don't like it," Booth said, worry evident in her voice.
Immediately, Brennan looked up in concern as she said quickly, "No, no. I-I love it."
"But?" he asked, noting that tears had started to fill her eyes. "What, Bones?"
"It's… where did you get this?" she said at last, a tear, despite her best efforts to the contrary.
Reaching out, he took his hand and wiped the tear away with a soft smile. "I, ah… the week before you started at the Academy… when you were working so hard at the lab, and we had that one case that just took forever? We were both late getting home that night… Jared was babysitting… and you made it home before me just by a little bit. I… after Jared left… I found you in the nursery… with the baby… like that… and I just… I took several shots… and this one came out the best… and I don't know… you've always said how much you like that black and white shot of Parker when he was younger and I'm holding him… you know, the one that I keep in the bedroom? So, I, ah… wanted you to have one of you and Chrissy… so I got this one printed and framed… it looked better in black and white, too, for some reason... so, I thought you might… like it?"
Brennan stared at the picture again. Both she and the baby were asleep, sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery… and, again she felt her throat tighten. She choked back a sob as she nodded.
"It's perfect."
Smiling softly, Booth said, "Then why are you crying?"
Reaching up, she hastily brushed away the tears and shook her head. She smiled at him, and said, "I'm not. It's perfect. I love it… thank you."
She leaned forward to kiss him softly. Pulling back, she watched as he brought a hand to her cheek and caressed it softly.
"You sure?"
Nodding, she said, "Positive."
"Okay," he murmured.
Looking at her, he brushed her cheek again as he said softly, "I hate it when you cry."
She moved her head so that she pressed her cheek against his hand and she sighed at his touch. "So do I," she said quietly.
Not quite sure how it happened, she could only say that it was perhaps an accident as she leaned forward, deeper into his touch. He looked at her with a question clearly writ on his face as she reached over and inserted herself into his personal space, her lips seeking his.
The kiss was tentative… for some reason Brennan was not her usual stalwart self today, and hadn't been for several weeks. A small part of Booth worried that it had something to do with them getting married, but the demands placed on him by the work at the Academy left little time for him to confront the issue unless something happened that directly demanded such blatant attention. Realizing that Booth much preferred her leaning over and pawing at him than crying, he started to respond to her overtures... as a part of him also realized it had been a couple weeks since either one of them had been in the same place at the same time and in the same mood for sex.
Her hair was still damp from her bath, and she hadn't been lying when she said she was only wearing the bathrobe over her nakedness. Brennan had pushed him down so that one of the pillows lay under his back. Reaching up, at the same time they were sharing soft, very soft kisses, Booth pulled once at the knot tied at her waist. Brennan whimpered a bit as his hands began to roam, and he had to keep pulling her back to him.
"Bones—" Booth murmured.
"Hmmmm?" came the reply.
He looked at her, and said, "I love you. You know that right?"
"Yes, I know," she smiled.
Returning the grin, Booth then rolled them over so that he was just above her. he took a moment to grab another pillow and adjust it behind her head. Brennan smiled again, and lifted her head to meet his, and they began to kiss again… with the soft crackle of the fire, the low hum of the Christmas carols, and the gentle lights of the Christmas tree combining all together to set a special mood, as they then made a certain type of magic of their own.
-TBC-