I promise, I don't influence the words in any way, this just happened, I swear. :P
Knight
"Hey there, Beautiful," Booth greeted when he saw the caller ID on his ringing cell phone. Brennan would normally reprimand him for being intimate during work hours, but she had more important things on her mind at the moment.
"Booth, I got a call from Travis' school," she told him. "They want us both to come down there right away. Apparently he got into a fight."
"A fight? That doesn't sound like Trav," Booth said distractedly as he rummaged around his desk for a file he had misplaced. "Are you sure there wasn't some sort of misunderstanding?"
"That was my first question. The principal said there was no room for a mistake. She saw the altercation herself." Booth sighed and stood up to pull on his jacket.
"Okay, I'm on my way to pick you up." They said goodbye and hung up. Booth rubbed a hand over his face. This was the last thing he would expect from Travis. From either Kevin or Chrissy, maybe, but not from shy, timid Travis.
Booth and Brennan walked into the principal's office to find Travis in a chair, swinging his feet and avoiding eye contact with anyone. "Mr. and Mrs. Booth," the principal greeted them. Booth was a little surprised that Brennan didn't correct her on the fact that she was a doctor and had retained her own surname after getting married. "I'm Mrs. Davis." She shook hands with each of them. "Have a seat." They sat down in the chairs on either side of Travis. There was another boy sitting in the room, arms crossed and eyes glaring at Travis.
"What happened?" Booth asked as Mrs. Davis took her seat behind the desk.
"I was walking down the hall after second lunch had finished and I found these two boys arguing," she gestured to Travis and the other boy. "I didn't catch much of the conversation because a moment later Travis struck Bradley. The fight quickly escalated from there and I had to separate the two. There's no question that Travis instigated the fight." Booth looked disapprovingly at his 11-year-old son.
"Why did you strike that boy?" Brennan asked, in a tone much more gentle than Booth was capable of at the moment. "That isn't like you, Travis." Travis didn't answer her and only continued to stare at his swinging feet.
"This is the first time Travis had gotten into trouble of any kind, but I'm afraid our school's policy leaves no room for debate," Mrs. Davis continued. "I wish there was another way to handle this but I have no choice. Travis has been suspended for the remainder of the week."
"Thank you," Booth said, still fuming. He followed Brennan and Travis out of the office.
Brennan offered to bring Travis to the lab, and Booth dropped them off. "I'll talk to him," Brennan promised. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation for all of this." Booth nodded, although he was still gripping the steering wheel pretty tight. Brennan leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "See you at home, Booth."
"Tell me what happened," Brennan said to Travis as soon as they were in her office. He remained quiet. "Travis, if there's a reason for all of this, you should tell me. I know it isn't in your nature to hit someone without cause. So just tell me why you struck the other boy and I will determine whether or not you should be punished." Travis sighed and sat down in a chair across from his mother's desk.
"He was calling her names," he said simply. Brennan sat in her desk chair, intrigued. She waited expectantly for Travis to continue. "This girl, Amanda, she's really nice. But she's… different than the other kids. She's, you know," he struggled to find the right word, "slow." Brennan nodded in understanding. "She likes to be everybody's friend, and usually nobody has a problem with it because she really is cool. But sometimes people are mean to her. She was talking to Brad at lunch and when we all left I heard him calling her stupid and imitating her and stuff. I told him to shut up and leave her alone, but he just kept doing it. That's when I hit him and Mrs. Davis saw us." Brennan smiled, her heart swelling with pride.
"Why didn't you just tell Mrs. Davis the truth?" Brennan asked. Travis only shrugged. Brennan knew what his answer would be. He didn't think she would believe him, and of course Travis would always gladly take punishment he didn't deserve. "I would call her and straighten this out, but I suppose you would enjoy the remainder of the week off, wouldn't you?" Travis smiled despite himself.
Travis and Brennan returned home to find that Booth was already there. Travis immediately ran for his room as soon as the door opened. Brennan walked up to Booth and slid her arms around his midsection. "Well, you can be very proud of your son."
"Yeah?" Booth said with curiosity. Brennan nodded.
"You don't have to worry about him developing a tendency for violence," she assured him. "In fact, he's learned quite a lot from you."
"From me?" Booth was still a little lost. "I don't go around bopping people in the mouth." Brennan laughed.
"Maybe not," she conceded. "But you certainly do have an overdeveloped sense of responsibility for others." Booth was still waiting for her to explain. "Travis hit that boy because he was being unkind to a mentally challenged girl."
"Yeah?" Booth said again. "Well, that's my boy!"
"Yes, my pair of White Knights," Brennan joked and kissed Booth tenderly.
Two Travis fics in a row! I think tomorrow I'll have to visit Kevin. I feel like we have some more to learn about him. :D