(The Girl in the Fridge)

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I don't own Bones.

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Michael Stires had assumed that Dr. Temperance Brennan hadn't changed over the years and was the same woman he had known in her University days. After she had joined his classes, he had suspected she had Asperger's Syndrome though she had not been officially diagnosed since it wasn't listed in her personal records.

Her IQ had impressed him from the beginning. He had known her to be socially awkward, lonely with few friends, but a damn fine intern. She had been a brilliant ray of light in his dull academic career. He had known few students that had worked as hard as she had and who could absorb knowledge like a sponge. Comfortable with their past, he had entered the Jeffersonian Lab with confidence that he would be greeted as a longtime friend and lover.

"Why are you here?" Brennan had been surprised to see her old mentor, although describing Michael as old was rather ludicrous.

"George Washington University wants to talk to me about heading their anthropology department. While I was here, I thought I'd drop by and see how you've been doing." Truthfully, she had been an excellent lover during her years at Northwestern University and he had hopes that she would like to renew that relationship. "I heard you were the head anthropologist at the Jeffersonian, very impressive."

Glad to see an old friend, Brennan met him at the bottom of the stairs. "I think they'll be lucky to get you."

Angela had noticed the meeting at the base of the platform and being the curious person that she was, she moved closer to hear the conversation.

"I assume they asked you first." Stires was realistic enough to know that he probably wasn't the university's first choice."

"I already have a job." She had been flattered to be offered the position, but she wasn't willing to give up her position at the Lab. "I . . ."

At that moment, Booth had entered the Lab with two FBI techs following behind him. One of them was wheeling a dented, slightly rusted refrigerator and the other tech kept close-by incase the other Tech lost control of the fridge. "Hey Bones, I got a present for you." Pointing at the base of the platform, he had the techs park the dolly with the fridge and step away. "Straight out of an illegal dump in Fairfax. Our forensic people confirmed it was human matter seeping through the seal, so rather than open it and risk being trashed by you for contaminating the evidence, I decided to bring the whole thing to you." He was certain that he'd made the right decision since Brennan hated remains to be compromised and blasted anyone that did it, including him.

After she opened the fridge, Brennan examined the remains and knew that Booth needed her. "Zach can clean the bones and then I'll do an examination." Turning towards Booth she pointed at Michael. "Booth this is Michael Stires. He was my professor at Northwestern University."

"I'd like to think I was more than that. Much more." Michael smiled at Booth and held out his hand. "I assume you're an FBI Agent?"

Not sure he liked the professor, Booth grasped the man's hand and squeezed it rather hard. "Yeah, I'm also Dr. Brennan's boyfriend." If Stires thought Brennan was available, then now was the time to put that to rest.

Amused, Angela placed he hand over her mouth to cover her smile. As soon as she'd seen Booth arrive she knew that Stires was going to be the object of Booth's ire.

Damn it. Michael was not happy to hear that, not at all. "Congratulations." After releasing Booth's hand, he turned towards Brennan and gave her his best smile. "So, I suppose asking you out on a date is out?"

"That is correct." Brennan turned her attention back towards the remains. "It was nice meeting you again Michael. I hope you succeed with George Washington University."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Michael Stires turned out to be the douche that Booth though he was. Sitting on the witness stand trying to make Brennan look cold and unfeeling was a little too much for Booth. He knew that she was a warm caring person and that when she was on the stand she was professional and tried not to let emotions rule the day. Unfortunately, the jury was buying what Stires was selling and Booth felt that he had to stop it or the Costellos would win their case and get away with murder. Knowing that he was going to make Brennan very angry, Booth told the prosecutor, Andrew Levitt about Brennan losing her parents when she was fifteen and that that loss affected her to that very day. He was hoping that Levitt would use that information to show just how human and caring Brennan actually was.

Levitt knew that the jury needed to see that Brennan wasn't cold and obnoxious, but that she used techno speech to distance herself from the victims during her testimony. Brennan's insight had been devastating to the defendants:

"I can look at their bones and tell you how they walked, where they hurt. Maggie Shilling is real to me. The pain she suffered is real to me. The pain she suffered is real. Her hip was being eaten away by infection from lying on her side. Sure, like Dr. Stires said the disease could contribute to that if you take it out of context, but you can't break Maggie Shilling down into little pieces. She was a whole person who fought to free herself."

The rest of her statement had been just as damaging and Booth could see the looks of horror and illness on the faces of the jurors. He knew that Michael Stires had lost and the Costellos had been the biggest losers of all. They were found guilty of kidnapping and murder and would not walk away from what they had done.

Furious when the trial was over, Brennan took a cab to the Lab and chose to work on one of the lost ones in Bones storage. Booth found her there and knew that she was angry with him. Before he could speak, she turned and leaned on the table with her gloved hands. "You had no right to do that. My past is private . . . my parents disappearing when I was fifteen, that was private."

"I know and I'm sorry, Bones, but Stires had painted you as cold and unfeeling. He even questioned why you were a forensic anthropologist. The jury doesn't know you like I do. All they saw was this handsome expert on the stand telling them that you were wrong and that you didn't care about the victim at all." He moved a few steps into the room and stopped. "Stires sat there and told those jurors that the case was about people not technical jargon. He attacked your testimony and your humanity . . . your humanity, Bones. That guy was your mentor and . . . and your first lover and yet he attacked your humanity. I couldn't let him get away with that. The Costellos were going to walk if I didn't stop that. Don't you see?" Booth could see that she was thinking about what he had said, but he was certain she was still angry. "I'm sorry."

Turning back towards the table, Brennan picked up a bone and stared it. Booth knew that he was being dismissed and he accepted it. "I'll see you at home?" She didn't reply and Booth wasn't certain what that meant, but he had no choice but to leave.

After he was gone, Brennan let herself weep.

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Surprised that he made it home before Brennan did, Booth decided to cook some mushroom risotto and grilled chicken. Since Brennan was experimenting with vegetarianism, he made a salad of mixed greens and hoped she appreciated the effort. After dinner was ready, Booth called his partner only to have his call shunted to voicemail. "This is Booth. Do you have an idea when you will be home? Call me."

After waiting for thirty minutes, he ate dinner and once he was done, he placed the leftovers in the fridge and cleaned up. Certain that Brennan was in an unforgiving mood, he left the apartment and walked down the street to the pub where the owner, Pat Davies greeted him warmly. "Agent Booth, it's good to see you. I hope all is going well."

"Yeah, it is, thanks." Sitting at the bar, he ordered a glass of beer and a slice of pie. "How you been Pat?"

Placing the glass of beer in front of his customer, Pat smiled as he cut a large wedge of apple pie for his friend. "They've been pretty good. I can't complain." Handing the slice of pie to Booth, Pat reached for a fork below the bar and handed it to the Agent. "Enjoy."

"Thanks." Booth knew that the piece of pie was bigger than the slice Pat normally served to his other customers, but he knew that the pub owner did that because they were friends. As he ate his pie, he thought about his problem with Brennan and wondered if she was going to kick him out of the apartment for good. He had known she was going to be angry with him, but he hadn't considered the fact that he might be destroying their relationship at the same time. He had wanted to help her, but she didn't see it that way and he wasn't sure how to fix it.

As the evening progressed, Booth became interested in the rugby game being televised on the big screen in the back of the pub and stayed to watch the entire game. At midnight, a little drunk, but not so drunk he couldn't walk back to the apartment, Booth left the pub and ambled down the sidewalk towards his apartment building. Once he was there, he took the elevator up to his floor and once he was in the hallway and at his door, he unlocked the door and entered the apartment. Brennan's purse on the coffee table told him she was home. As quietly as possible, he moved over to the guest bedroom, entered it and closed the door behind him. Since she had never returned his call, Booth assumed that she didn't want to talk to him.

Removing his shoes, shirt and pants, he fell on the bed, grabbed the blanket near his feet and covered his body. Staring at the ceiling, he thought about how much he loved Brennan and hoped that he was still her boyfriend and partner in the morning. If she threw him out, he knew that it would take him a long time to get over her. He had never met anyone like her and the thought of losing her made him feel sick.

Oooooooooooooooooo

She had arrived home to find the apartment deserted. Checking the kitchen, Brennan found a note telling her that there was risotto and salad in the fridge. Not really hungry, she took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator, removed the cap and drank some of the cool beverage. Passing through the living room and entering the bedroom, she noticed that Booth's jacket was missing from the chair where he normally draped it when he was home. She wasn't sure how long Booth meant to be gone, but she had hoped to talk to him when she got home. She'd had time to think about what he had done earlier that day and she felt that they needed to come up with some rules if they wanted to remain partners.

After taking a bath, she retired to her bed and lay in the dark room waiting for her lover to come home. The quietness of the apartment soon lulled her to sleep and she was unaware when Booth came home.

She wasn't sure what woke her, but when she did it was three in the morning and the bed beside her was still empty. Grabbing her phone from the nightstand, she checked it for messages and found the only message from her partner had been the one she received earlier that evening. Worried, she placed the phone back in its recharger, slipped out of bed and walked over to the bedroom door. Once in the living room, she found it dark and unoccupied. Concerned she walked over to the guest bedroom and found her lover sleeping there.

Relieved that he was home, she entered the room, moved onto the bed and felt her body relax. She hadn't realized just how tense she was until that moment.

"I'm sorry, Bones."

Moving onto her side, Brennan stared at her boyfriend and finally placed her hand on his side. "We need to initiate some rules, Booth. You may not talk about my past to anyone unless I give you permission and I won't talk about your past unless you give me permission. What you did was wrong. I don't care if Michael was portraying me as unfeeling and cold to the jury. I was there to do my job and I did it. It may not have been to your complete satisfaction, but I have testified before and I know what I am doing . . . On the other hand, I probably would have done the same thing if I had been in your place. That is why we must have rules. Do you understand?"

Moving onto his side, Booth placed his hand on her hip. "Yeah . . . I didn't mean to hurt you Bones. I love you."

"I know you do and that is why I forgive you." Brennan lay her arm along his arm, gripping his upper arm. "I love you, Booth . . . Don't do that again."

"I won't." He moved closer and kissed her. "I don't like Michael Stires. He's an asshole. I want you to know that."

Amused, Brennan returned his kiss. "I have no plans to associate with Michael if he moves to the District. He treated me callously in court as if betraying me was just part of a game, part of his job as a consultant. Since I do not love him, I will not forgive him."

"Good."

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